What to look out for on UEFA Champions League Matchday 2

Following spectacular opening-day outcomes for both teams, Liverpool welcomes Ajax while Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski take little strolls down memory lane.

Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic, Erling Haaland of Man. City, and Sadio Mané of Bayern

There will be 16 more matches in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In advance of the second round of matches, we identify some important discussion points.

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13 September

Group A: Liverpool vs Ajax

Group B: Porto vs Club Brugge, Leverkusen vs Atlético

Group C: Plzeň vs Inter, Bayern vs Barcelona

Group D: Sporting CP vs Tottenham, Marseille vs Frankfurt

14 September

Group A: Rangers vs Napoli (rescheduled)

Group E: AC Milan vs Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea vs Salzburg

Group F: Shakhtar vs Celtic, Real Madrid vs Leipzig

Group G: Man City vs Dortmund, Copenhagen vs Sevilla

Group H: Juventus vs Benfica, Maccabi Haifa vs Paris

What to look out for

Beleaguered Liverpool face buoyant Ajax

Although Liverpool’s Premier League season hasn’t started off well, their 4-1 loss to Napoli was still an impressive performance, according to coach Jürgen Klopp “There’s a lot of soul-searching. We’re not working as a team.”Ajax, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be suffering from the loss of coach Erik ten Hag to Manchester United as they defeated Rangers 4-0 in their opening game (a performance former Netherlands international Theo Janssen characterised as “next level”, even compared to last season).

While they lost 1-0 at home and away when they were matched with the Reds in the 2020–21 group stage, they have reason for hope as they head to Anfield after the Rangers result ended a run of six straight victories during which Ajax scored 20 goals. “I witnessed an Ajax team that had fun out there with plenty of energy. A squad that wants to win and play together. Even if you sell a lot of players, you can quickly get a good new team going again, as long as everyone keeps working together,” coach Alfred Schreuder said on Matchday 1.

Lewandowski back at Bayern with Barcelona

Robert Lewandowski scored 344 goals in 375 games for his team before leaving in the summer, and Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said of him, “As a person I will be glad to see him.” Although there was some controversy around Lewandowski’s summer transfer to Barcelona, both parties have done well since.

Lewandowski, who scored five goals in his first four Liga games, picked up a treble in Barcelona’s Matchday 1 thrashing of Plze (“Robert is utterly insatiable,” observed the 34-year-new old’s coach Xavi Hernández) to become the first player to achieve Champions League hat-tricks for three clubs. Bayern, meanwhile, defeated Inter 2-0 to maintain its perfect record after eight games without Lewandowski (W6 D2).

Haaland welcomes Dortmund to Manchester

On Matchday 2, superstar forwards other than Lewandowski will reunite. Erling Haaland, a Norwegian who scored 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund, bid his fans farewell in May after agreeing to join Manchester City. After scoring twice against Sevilla on Matchday 1 to bring his City total to 12, Haaland may not be hesitant to go all out when he faces his former teammates.

Edin Terzi’s team will be looking to upstage their former team-mate in Manchester after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Copenhagen last time out. However, having seen star strikers like Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Ousmane Dembélé pass through their ranks, BVB are used to seeing their biggest stars shine elsewhere.

When Shved returns, will Celtic experience deja vu?

One of the more notable results from Matchday 1 was Shakhtar’s 4-1 triumph at Leipzig, and their upcoming opponents, Celtic, will have noticed two of the goals were scored by their former star Marian Shved. Should the 25-year-old shine once more in Warsaw, it wouldn’t be the first time a former Bhoy had troubled the Scottish team. In 2001, Harald Brattbakk of Rosenborg scored twice against them, and Henrik Larsen of Barcelona did the same three years later. As a result, the Glasgow team didn’t go past their division in any season.

Igor Jovievi, the Shakhtar coach, was eager to highlight Shved and his attacking alternatives following their dramatic victory at Leipzig. “I’ve known Shved for a long time; he made his debut under my supervision at Karpaty seven years ago, and I remembered him the same way he is today. He has become more impressive and motivated. He and Mudryk are two of our enforcers. It is a priority to have two players for each position, and we also have Petriak and Zubkov. This is a luxury for me.

When are the group stage matches for the UEFA Champions League being played?

Matchday 2: 13/14 September 2022

Matchday 3: 4/5 October 2022

Matchday 4: 11/12 October 2022

Matchday 5: 25/26 October 2022

Matchday 6: 1/2 November 2022

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Further ahead

Lionel Messi has a chance to close the 15-goal gap on his longtime adversary in the all-time top-scorer standings because Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be playing in the group stage. Since the start of the 2022–23 season, Lewandowski has pulled three goals ahead of Karim Benzema, who is now in third place with 86 goals.

The opening game of Liverpool’s Group A doubleheader against Rangers will be played at Anfield on Matchday 3. Amazingly, the British team has yet to cross paths in UEFA play.

After Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 1, Graham Potter took over as manager. On Matchday 2, the Blues host Salzburg before playing both home and away matches against AC Milan.

Where is the 2023 UEFA Champions League final being played?

Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul will host the Champions League final on June 10, 2023.

The facility, which was created to aid Turkey’s bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, opened in 2002 and is the base for the Turkish national team. It is located in the city’s Başakşehir neighborhood, west of the Bosphorus, and has a seating capacity of more than 75,000 people.

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