By CARL SETTERLUND
With the UEFA Champions League Group Stage kicking off Tuesday afternoon, one of the winningest teams in tournament history will make its return to the competition after a five-year hiatus.
Five-time Champions League winner Liverpool will host Bulgarian champion Ludogorets in one of eight Tuesday fixtures as Groups A, B, C and D all commence. The Reds made it into the tournament six straight seasons the previous decade – beginning with their classic comeback in the 2005 final in Istanbul – but their hasn’t been much European action for Liverpudlians to celebrate lately, going out meekly in recent Europa League appearances in 2010 and 2012.
With Daniel Sturridge out injured, Brendan Rodgers will look to Mario Balotelli to break through for his first Liverpool goal against what should be a manageable opponent.
In terms of competition, it doesn’t get much better than the Group D meeting between Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal. The Gunners are even more shorthanded on the back line than usual, and will hope to outscore the Bundesliga runners-up, who have impressively picked up where they left off last season.
Another key fixture takes place in Group C, where an in-form Bayer Leverkusen side will try to gain the early edge on AS Monaco, which has struggled following a summer fire sale. In a group that also includes Benfica and Zenit St. Petersburg, starting off on the right foot will be important.
Other teams in action today include Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Juventus, although none of them play each other. The final four groups will begin their UCL campaign on Wednesday.
Here’s the full schedule of today’s UEFA Champions League action:
2:45pm — ESPN3 — Olympiakos vs. Atlético Madrid
2:45pm — ESPN3 — Juventus vs. Malmö FF
2:45pm — Fox Sports 2 USA — Liverpool vs. Ludogorets
2:45pm — ESPN Deportes — Real Madrid vs. FC Basel
2:45pm — ESPN3 — AS Monaco vs. Bayer Leverkusen
2:45pm — ESPN3 — Benfica vs. Zenit St. Petersburg
2:45pm — ESPN3 — Galatasaray vs. Anderlecht
2:45pm — ESPN3/Fox Sports 1 USA — Borussia Dortmund vs Arsenal
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What are you watching for today? Which favorites could be in line for an early upset? What are the keys to the game in the big opening day showdown between Arsenal and Dortmund?
Share your thoughts below.
I don’t like that yellow for diving. I’m not really sure it was a pen but Arteta did clip him… Arteta has been sloppy since then too and is lucky not to have more fouls called against him.
Confirmed:LFC team v Ludogorets: Mignolet, Manquillo, Moreno, Lovren, Sakho, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Balotelli
Subs bench: Jones, Enrique, Toure, Lucas, Suso, Borini, Lambert
Loving the whole ESPN3 streaming deal. I guess replay won’t be available though, but still its great to have all the games available considering the big teams are always televised no matter what minnow is on, while games that are good (like BVB vs Arsenal) aren’t even on.
Oh, I’ll take the game in spanish if I get the stream. Its rather odd that Foxsports allowed ESPN to get the streaming rights.
ESPN has the Spanish language rights which I assume also include the streaming rights. However, I am with you. Most of us streaming it are at work, so we will not be playing the volume.
BTW, Wellbeck just missed two clear chances to score. You gotta figure that either Loic Remy or definitely Falcao woud have put that away.
Lets Go BvB. Can’t wait to see what the Yellow Wall’s tifo for today!!! Best fans best tifo’s
BVB v Arsenal will be worth watching. I’m a red, but I’ll be switching from the Liverpool match to the BVB match periodically.
I’ll be interested to see what line up Brendon Rodgers uses for this one.