UEFA Champions League review: Matchday 4 preview

The football fever isn’t stopping any soon as we once again reach the Champions League midweek with one exciting encounter coming our way between the best clubs from all across Europe.

Group - E

Celtic – A vs Atletico de Madrid - H

Time – 1:30 am

Champions League Group-E will host the exciting Atletico Madrid vs Celtic. The same fixture was played last month during Matchday 3 but instead on Scottish turf. The match didn’t end the way everybody hoped as Atletico drew against the Scottish champions where Celtic lost their lead twice with the opposition playing with 10 men for the latter stages of the game. The Spanish giants sit in second position while the Scottish champions warm the last spot and will hope to at least end 3rd to play in the Europa League if possible.

Celtic injury list – Liel Abada, Stephen Walsh, Reo Hatate, Marco Tilio, James McCarthy

Atletico de Madrid injury list – Rodrigo de Paul, Ivo Grbic, Samuel Lino, Memphis Depay, Thomas Lemar, Reinildo

Group - F

PSG - A vs AC Milan – H

Time – 1:30 am

A dominant new look PSG side takes on AC Milan once again at home to finish on top ofreachesthe the. Group- F in the Champions League. During the last meeting, AC Milan couldn’t help but lose at home with three goals to nil. An emphatic performance by Kylian Mbappe who will be motivated again at home to perform at his optimum best against the Italian giants. AC Milan sits at the last spot while PSG is on top of the group with 6 points in 3 matches as of now.

PSG injury list – Danilo Pereira, Keylor Navas, Marco Asensio, Sergio Rico, Nuno Mendes

AC Milan injury list – Marco Sportiello, Simon Kjaer, Pierre Kalulu, Marco Pellegrino, Rade Krunic, Mattia Caldara, Ismail Bennacer

Group - G

RB Leipzig - A vs Red Star Belgrade - H

Time – 1:30 am

RB Leipzig will hope to continue their good run of form before they face Manchester City against a smaller Red Star Belgrade side. Having taken 6 points from a possible 9, the German club is confident of qualifying from the group pretty easily considering they have only one major opponent in the form of the Manchester Blue. The last encounter was in favor of the club from Leipzig with the Score line being 3-1.

RB Leipzig injury list – Yussuf Poulsen, Timo Werner, Dani Olmo, Willy Orban, EC Bitshiabu

Red Star Belgrade injury list - NIL

BSC Young Boys – A vs Manchester City - H

Time – 1:30 am

Manchester City had a pretty much new experience playing on AstroTurf at BSC Young Boys home ground in the previous fixture. They weren’t much comfortable but still managed to win against the Swiss champions where Erling Haaland scored a brace while Manuel Akanji scored the other one with the score line being 3-1. City is on top of the group with Young Boys on 3rd which they will hope to finish at as well considering the minimal amount of chances to finish above the spot.

BSC Young Boys injury list – Lukasz Lakomy, Kastriot Imeri

Manchester City injury list – Erling Haaland, Zack Steffen, Kevin De Bruyne

Group - H

Antwerp – A vs FC Porto – H

Time – 1:30 am

Royal Antwerp will be happy to welcome back Toby Alderweireld in their defence with the other price in the form of Bjorn Engles missing out on starting 11 in the upcoming fixture. A surprise winner last time out in the Belgian League, the Champions League has not been the best for them considering the opponents they have faced and the results they have got. Possibly a home atmosphere is what they want up next when they come again in front of the Portugal high flyers FC Porto.

Antwerp injury list – Mandela Kieta, Toby Alderweireld, Jean Butez, Anthony Valencia, Jacob ONDREJKA, Davinho Verhulst, and Sam Vines

FC Porto injury list – Wendell, Ivan Marcano, Gabriel Veron, Ivan Jamie, Wenderson Galeno, and Samuel Portugal

1. FC Union Berlin - A vs Napoli - H

Time - 11:15 pm

Union Berlin has found it hard to replicate the form they had last season surprising everyone. With some marquee signings in the summer, the small club from Berlin has been struggling lately. A 1-0 loss against the club from Naples was a dominant performance with the Ultras of the club supporting them completely after the match saying -“we are living the dream”. The Berlin-based club is at the bottom of the table while Napoli sits at the second spot and if they win, they’d be certain enough to close the group within the qualification spot.

Union Berlin injury list - Alexander Schwolow, Josip Juranovic, Andras Schafer, and Danilho Doekhi

Napoli Injury list - Victor Osimhen

Group - D

Benfica – A vs Real Sociedad – H

Time - 11:15 pm

Group- D hosts Benfica vs Real Sociedad where the Portuguese club will hope to take their revenge against their opponents whom they weren’t able to overcome when they lost 1-0 at home. Benfica have their veteran Angel di Maria missing the clash due to injury with Real Sociedad also missing some key players for their side. The current table positions portray how badly Benfica needs a win to finish above the fourth spot to qualify for the round of 16 or less in the Europa League. 

Benfica Injury list – David Neres, Alexander Bah, and Orkun Kokcu

Real Sociedad injury list - Andre Silva, Kieran Tierney, David Silva, Martin Merquelanz, Hamari Traore, and Jon Pacheco

Group - E 

Feyenoord - H vs Lazio - A

Time - 1:30 am

Santiago Giminez is the new name in the making. The Mexican is already upping his tally with 15 goals in top competitions till now and was the differencemaker against Lazio last time out. Ciro Immobile on the other hand will be hoping to get back to form just like in previous seasons with Lazio in at 3rd position with only 4 points while Feyenoord at 1st. The match will conclude the Champions League Matchday 4 in the group stage with more action coming up the very next day.

Feyenoord injury list - Yankubah Minteh

Lazio injury list – Nicolo Casale

Cover Credits: UEFAofficial