The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League season starts this week with a number of mouth-watering clashes.
So what do we expect?
Fixtures
Tuesday 14 September
Group E: Barcelona vs Bayern, Dynamo Kyiv vs Benfica
Group F: Young Boys vs Man. United, Villarreal vs Atalanta
Group G: Sevilla vs Salzburg , LOSC vs Wolfsburg
Group H: Chelsea vs Zenit, Malmö vs Juventus
Wednesday 15 September
Key matches;
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
Group A: Man. City vs Leipzig, Club Brugge vs Paris
Group B: Atlético de Madrid vs Porto, Liverpool vs AC Milan
Group C: Beşiktaş vs Dortmund, Sporting CP vs Ajax
Group D: Sheriff vs Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter vs Real Madrid
The last time the two sides met it was a bloodbath, Bayern scored eight past a hapless Barcelona side, and there will be some revenge of sorts when they clash on Tuesday in arguably the match of the week.
Ronald Koeman is still finding his team at the Catalan club after a confusing summer in which they lost their key player in Lionel Messi but will hope their home advantage favours them.
Liverpool v AC Milan
The two continental heavyweights have met just twice in the competition, and it was both in the finals; 2005, and 2007.
Milan have not featured in the Champions League group stage since 2013/14, which is a sharp contrast to Jurgen Klopp’s men who lifted the coveted crown in 2019.
It will also be Milan’s first match at Anfield, and it promises to be an entertaining clash.
Inter Milan v Real Madrid
One more clash that brings back memories of past encounters.
This will be the second season running the two sides, alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, find themselves in the same group.
Inter lost both matches to Madrid last season and will hope to improve or suffer a similar fate like last season when they dropped out of the group stage.
