The first round matches of the league stage continue in Champions League With the new system, which witnesses many amendments to the tournament system, the most prominent of which is converting the group stage into a league stage, and increasing the number of clubs to 36 teams instead of 32, with matches being held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of the first two days, as has been the custom for more than 20 years.
And after Yesterday’s matches in the Champions LeagueIn the following report, we review today’s matches in the tournament, most notably the early final between Manchester City vs Interwhich will be held on the stadiums of the teams mentioned first, and there will be no return matches on the stadiums of the second teams, as the draw was drawn and each team will face 8 competitors in the league stage, including 4 matches on its home field, and 4 others away from its home field with different teams in the eight matches for each team, and today’s matches will be as follows..
Sparta Prague vs Salzburg
Sparta have been waiting for this moment for a long time, having not reached this stage of the competition since the 2005/06 season, and defender Martin Vittek revealed his Champions League debut today: “When I was in the youth team, I wanted Sparta to be successful, which is what we are doing now. Playing in the Champions League is a dream come true.” Salzburg, meanwhile, will be hoping to spoil the party, especially after finishing bottom of their group last season and losing their first league title in 10 years in Austria to Sturm Graz.
Bologna vs Shakhtar
Bologna are back in the Champions League for the first time since the 1964/65 preliminary round. Coach Vincenzo Italiano insists the team are not here to try something new. “I didn’t want to face one team or another, all the teams are strong,” he said. “We have to go into this trip with enthusiasm and desire, with the intention of putting everyone in a difficult position.” They face a tough first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk, who failed to qualify for the knockout stages last season and will certainly want to win their first match.
On the other hand, despite Shakhtar’s continuous participation in the Champions League, the team was eliminated from the group stage in the past six consecutive seasons.
Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava
Celtic last reached the knockout stages of the Champions League in 2012/13 and manager Brendan Rodgers sees qualifying for this stage of the competition as the team’s top target. “Every game will be a great test for us and a game where we can measure ourselves at this level,” said Rodgers. “We can test ourselves, do our best and see if we can qualify as one of the teams that can qualify for the play-offs.” Slovakia’s Slovan are finally back in the competition after ending a run of 11 seasons in which they were eliminated in the play-offs before reaching the group stage, beating Midtjylland 4-3 on aggregate this season.
Club Brugge vs Dortmund
Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe is not afraid of the daunting task the club face in the league stage and has already started crunching the numbers as they seek to qualify. “It’s a very tough draw… Milan, Dortmund, Manchester City again,” he said. “Mathematically, you have to get around eight points to be in the last 24. Then you still have a chance to get through to the next round. That will be very difficult, but that will be our ambition.” Last season’s runners-up Dortmund can also point to wins over Newcastle, Milan and Paris last season as evidence that they are also in contention this season.
Dortmund managed to keep more clean sheets last season than any other club in the league, with 6 games without conceding a goal.
Man City vs Inter
Manchester City’s clash with Inter in 2023 is arguably the best match in the club’s history, having won their only major trophy when they beat the Italian giants 1-0. A second European crown is certainly high on their agenda after losing to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals last season. “We’ve all tasted defeat at least once or twice and we know what it feels like to lose and win,” said midfielder Bernardo Silva. “We don’t want to taste defeat again. When we go out of the Champions League, we don’t like it.” Simone Inzaghi was in charge of Inter when they were denied the title by City in 2023 and this is their first chance at redemption against the English champions since then.
Inter will have a difficult task in revenge, especially since Manchester City has not lost in 31 matches at home in the Champions League.
Paris Saint Germain vs Girona
This competition is certainly at the forefront of Luis Enrique and PSG’s agenda. It will be interesting to see the club for the first time without Kylian Mbappé after years of trying to win the title and the team is looking forward to a very tough schedule. Girona, on the other hand, are preparing for a strong participation after finishing third in La Liga last season, beating Barcelona and Atletico Madrid along the way, and will be used to strong confrontations when they enter the current edition of the tournament.
With PSG without Mbappe, the club’s scoring record will be in the spotlight, having scored in each of their last 50 Champions League group stage games, a run that began after a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in November 2015.