Off colour Barca and United face stern European tests

Published at :October 1, 2018 at 5:25 PM

Modified at :October 1, 2018 at 5:25 PM

Elsewhere, Liverpool visit Napoli and Manchester City look to get back on track Hoffenheim.

The biggest competition the world of club football returned on the 18th of September and brought with it all the excitement, shocks and upsets that we have come to expect from the tournament over the years.

As the second round of Group Stage fixtures rolls around, we at Khel Now take you through the groups and the various subplots that are developing across the competition.

Group A

Athletico Madrid top the group following their narrow victory over Monaco who will be disappointed having dropped early points at home. Monaco will look to bounce back against the Bundesliga table-toppers, Borussia Dortmund who edged out Club Brugge in their opening fixture. Athletico Madrid will look to extend their strong start to the season against the Belgian side.

Group B

Group B is one of the most hotly contested groups in the tournament and saw Barcelona and Inter Milan seize early advantages with wins over PSV and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Barcelona will take on Spurs in one of the most hotly anticipated games of the group stage and will hope to put their La Liga woes behind them while Inter Milan will hope that their league form carries through to Europe.

Group C

PSG find themselves languishing at the bottom of Group C following their late defeat to Liverpool. The French champions will look to get their Champions League campaign back on track against Red Star Belgrade who held Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli in their previous fixture. The side from Naples have what is quickly becoming a very daunting visit from a Liverpool side that will hope to notch up yet another win.

Group D

Galatasaray saw away Lokomotiv Moscow in their first fixture and find themselves at the top of Group D. Shalke and Porto played out a 1-1 draw in Germany and will both be looking to notch up their first wins of the campaign. The German side will travel to Russia in match-week 2 while Porto will welcome Galatasaray to Portugal in what could be a pivotal fixture for the group.

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Group E

Ajax and Bayern are tied on points at the top of Group E and are separated only by goal difference. The two European giants will face each other this match-week at the Allianz Arena where Bayern will look to capitalize on their home advantage. Benfica and AEK Athens will both look to get their first points of the campaign as the two sides meet in Greece.

Group F

In perhaps one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far, Lyon defeated tournament favourites Manchester City at home to find themselves on top of the group. The Cityzens will look to set right the defensive errors that cost them so dearly against Lyon as they take on Hoffenheim in Germany. Meanwhile, Lyon will welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to France and will hope to cement their top spot.

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Group G

The defending champions, Real Madrid eased through what looks like their toughest Group stage fixture on paper by putting three goals past Roma. Madrid and Roma will play CSKA Moscow and Plzen respectively in the second match-week and will look to get valuable points on the board against the smaller sides in the group.

Group H

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While Manchester United may be undergoing an abysmal spell of form in the Premier League, they did not falter against Young Boys as they pulled off a victory under the harsh conditions in Switzerland. The English side now welcome Valencia to Old Trafford in what could be a very important game for their under-fire manager, Jose Mourinho. Juventus have successfully reduced the ban that Cristiano Ronaldo faced following his red card against Valencia in the opening fixture.

This, however, means that he will miss the game against Young Boys where his side will look to take advantage to capitalize on United’s poor form to stake a claim to the top position in the group.