Preview of 2018-19 Champions League match day 1 games
Last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool come up against the might of Paris Saint-Germain as the Champions League returns to mouth-watering action on Tuesday.
Anfield will be rocking for the arrival of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as Jurgen Klopp’s side look to get off to a flier in a tricky group, which also contains Napoli and Red Star Belgrade.
Tottenham and Inter will both be aiming to put testing league campaigns behind them when they do battle at San Siro – with Harry Kane on course to join an elite group – while in Group B’s other game PSV face a daunting trip to Barcelona.
In the night’s other standout tie, Radamel Falcao will hope to get one over his former employers as Monaco host Atletico Madrid in Group A.
Champions league is back and we’re hungrier than ever #LFC pic.twitter.com/9zTQSGf8bY
— Trent Arnold (@trentaa98) September 17, 2018
Below, we examine the key Opta numbers behind Tuesday’s matches.
Barcelona v PSV
24 – Barcelona have won 24 of their last 26 Champions League games at the Camp Nou (W24 D2 L0), with their last defeat there dating back to May 2013 against Bayern Munich (0-3).
9 – Current PSV coach Mark van Bommel made nine Champions League appearances for Barcelona between September 2005 and May 2006, including playing 61 minutes in the Spanish team’s victory over Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League final.
Inter v Tottenham
7 – After qualifying for the competition for 10 successive years between 2002-03 and 2011-12, Inter will be competing in the Champions League for the first time in seven years, their longest wait since the rebranding of the tournament in 1992-93 (also seven between 92-93 and 98-99).
9 – Tottenham striker Harry Kane has scored nine goals in 10 Champions League appearances so far in his career. The fastest players to 10 Champions League goals are Adriano, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino (11 appearances) – Kane could equal this if he scores in his first Champions League appearance of 2018-19.
Next stop: Milan. #COYS pic.twitter.com/aFZUqyUXom
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 17, 2018
Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund
6 – Only Benfica (7) are on a longer current losing run in the Champions League among sides in this season’s competition than Club Brugge (6).
12 – Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus has scored 12 goals and delivered four assists in his last 16 Champions League games.
Schalke v Porto
23 – Porto have made it to the Champions League group stages for the 23rd time, which equals the record held by Barcelona and Real Madrid. They haven’t progressed further than the quarter-finals since they lifted the trophy in 2004.
5 – Schalke have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League in each of their previous five appearances, with their best performance dating back to 2010-11 (semi-finals).
@ChampionsLeague football returns to Schalke tomorrow! #S04FCP #s04 pic.twitter.com/tgcmUOf4k4
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) September 17, 2018
Monaco v Atletico Madrid
14 – Monaco have failed to keep a single clean sheet in their last 14 Champions League games, the longest current run of sides taking part in the 2018-19 edition of the competition (Galatasaray also 14).
6 – This is Atletico’s sixth consecutive Champions League campaign, the longest run in their history. They were beaten finalists in 2013-14 and 2015-16, while being eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2014-15 and semi-finals in 2016-17.
Liverpool v Paris Saint-Germain
8 – Last season, Liverpool’s James Milner (8) equalled the record set by current PSG star Neymar (8 in 2016-17) for the most assists by a player in a single Champions League campaign since 2003-04.
8 – PSG striker Edinson Cavani has scored eight goals in 14 appearances in the Champions League against teams from England.
Just day before we make our @ChampionsLeague return! #LFCPSG
#AllezParis pic.twitter.com/DCrCh6HfXk
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) September 17, 2018
Red Star Belgrade v Napoli
8 – Red Star Belgrade have not won any of their previous eight matches in the European Cup/Champions League against sides from Italy (D4 L4), including losing each of the last two, both to Sampdoria in the 1991-92 group stage.
12 – Napoli were knocked out of the Champions League despite amassing 12 points in the 2013-14 group stages, the highest points total to see a side eliminated since the new format in 2003-04 (finished third behind Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund).
Galatasaray v Lokomotiv Moscow
2 – Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera has kept only two clean sheets in 27 Champions League games.
26 – Yuri Semin has taken charge of all 26 Champions League games played by Lokomotiv Moscow (2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04).
Şampiyonlar Ligi D Grubu 1. maçında, yarın saat 22:00’de Lokomotiv Moskova ile oynayacağımız maçın bilet satışı devam ediyor…
Bilet satın almak için https://t.co/4AEaHGYsJy
Detaylar https://t.co/6xUOP20Ong pic.twitter.com/sRbX7O52eq
— Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) September 17, 2018
