By SBI SOCCER
The 2015-16 UEFA Champions League resumes this week with matchday two action.
The biggest storyline of the week is arguably José Mourinho’s return to Porto, where he led the club to the 2004 UCL title. Now 11 years after that accomplishment, Mourinho will have to set his feelings aside, as he looks to turn around his Chelsea squad after a slow start to the season.
Elsewhere in the group of death, Group D, last year’s UCL runner-up, Juventus, will take on two-time defending Europa League champion Sevilla in Turin. Both sides came away with wins in their respective UCL openers and are looking to jump atop a table that also features Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
At the same time, eyes will be on Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo as he closes in on a couple of records. With 499 career goals in his bag, Ronaldo also has a chance to shatter Raúl’s club record of 323 goals, of which he is just two behind.
Here is a closer look at all the UCL competition this week:
TUESDAY
BARCELONA VS. BAYER LEVERKUSEN, AT CAMP NOU, 2:45 P.M.
A Lionel Messi-less Barcelona looks to get things rolling after playing to a 1-1 draw against AS Roma in the first week of action.
Visiting the reigning UCL champions will be German side Bayer Leverkusen, which picked up a 3-0 win — its biggest victory in Bundesliga this season — at Werder Bremen and a 4-1 win against BATE Borisov in its UCL opener two weeks ago.
The last time these two sides met, Barça came away with a convincing 7-1 win at home in the second leg of their round of 16 clash in the 2011-12 UCL campaign. Messi scored five goals in that contest, becoming the first player in UCL history to do so.
FC BATE BORISOV VS. AS ROMA, AT BORISOV ARENA, 2:45 P.M.
Both sides are coming into this contest below full strength, as Vitali Rodionov and Maksim Zhavnerchik are sidelined for BATE while Roma will be without Francesco Totti, Edin Džeko and Seydou Keita after the trio each picked up an injury during Roma’s 5-1 win over Carpi on Saturday in Serie A action.
Another absence for the visitors will be goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, who injured his left hand on matchday one in Roma’s 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
There is not much history between the two clubs, but BATE did face Rudi Garcia twice in the past, with the Belarusian club picking up a 3-1 win over Garcia’s Lille in the 2012-13 UCL season and dropping a 2-0 result in the return match.
BAYERN MUNICH VS. DINAMO ZAGREB, AT ALLIANZ ARENA, 2:45 P.M.
Dinamo Zagreb puts its 45-match unbeaten on the line when it visits a Bayern Munich squad that possessed a 100 percent record at home in UCL competition last season.
Zagreb picked up a surprising yet impressive 2-1 win over Arsenal on matchday one — its first victory in 16 group stage fixtures — but Bayern scored 22 goals in six home UCL games last season and are in prime form at the moment amid a nine-match win streak, including a 3-0 win at Olympiacos in its UCL opener.
ARSENAL VS. OLYMPIACOS, AT EMIRATES STADIUM, 2:45 P.M.
Two familiar opponents square off in UCL group stage action again as Arsenal play hosts to Olympiacos for the fourth time in seven seasons.
Each of the past six games has been won by the home team and Arsenal hopes to continue that trend after picking up a much-needed 5-2 win at Leicester City Saturday — thanks to a Alexis Sanchez hat trick — to snap back-to-back defeats that included a 2-1 loss at Dinamo Zagreb in its UCL opener.
Olympiacos, despite dropping a 3-0 result at home to Bayern Munich on matchday one, still remains the only team in the Greek Super League with a 100 percent record after beating PAS Giannina, 5-1, in its fifth game of the season on Saturday.
MACCABI TEL AVIV VS. DYNAMO KIEV, AT ITZTADION SAMMY OFER, 2:45 P.M.
Both clubs are back in UCL action after extended absences by winning doubles in their respective domestic leagues.
The Israeli champion Maccabi Tel Aviv fell to Chelsea, 4-0, at Stamford Bridge on matchday one while Dynamo Kiev fared slightly better by earning a 2-2 draw against FC Porto at home.
The two sides have faced off previously in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League group stage. The clubs drew in both meetings, with a 1-1 result in Tel Aviv and a 3-3 score in Ukraine.
FC PORTO VS. CHELSEA, AT ESTÁDIO DO DRAGÃO, 2:45 P.M.
“The Special One” makes an emotional return, as José Mourinho tries to deflect any affection he has for his former club when he leads Chelsea into Porto.
For Mourinho, the bigger concern at the moment is guiding Chelsea into form after a lackluster start to the season. The Blues picked up a 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge to open their UCL season, but eight points in seven domestic matches are not what they had hoped for after claiming the English title last year.
For Porto, a team that won the 2004 UCL under Mourinho, it will look to extend its 12-match unbeaten streak, as well as maintain its perfect 3-0-0 record at home this season.
This fixture also features the reunion of Iker Casillas with Mourinho, whom he played for during their time at Real Madrid, as well as Radamel Falcao and his former club. The Colombian striker tallied 41 goals in 51 appearances for Porto from 2009 to 2011.
LYON VS. VALENCIA, AT STADE DE GERLAND, 2:45 P.M.
Neither club got off to an ideal start to the UCL start two weeks ago and look to get back on track at the expense of each other.
Valencia dropped a 3-2 result at Estadi de Mestalla to Zenit, while Lyon was forced to accept a 1-1 draw against UCL debutant Gent on the road.
Lyon also hopes to bounce back from 3-1 loss at the hands of Bordeaux on Saturday and come away with a better result in its first home UCL group fixture since 2011.
ZENIT VS. GENT, AT STADION PETROVSKIY, 2:45 P.M.
Zenit may have come away with an impressive win at Valencia, but its domestic performance has not gone quite as well since André Villas-Boas announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Zenit picked up just three points from its past four league games and will face a stingy Gent squad that has not lost in 12 games across competitions this season.
WEDNESDAY
ASTANA VS. GALATASARAY, AT ASTANA ARENA, NOON
Galatasaray will be coming into Kazakhstan without one of its key players in Burak Yılmaz after he picked up a hamstring injury on Sept. 19 and was subsequently ruled out for a month.
However, the Turkish double winners are not lacking any other star power and should be able to handle the UCL newcomers despite playing on the road and on an artificial pitch at the Astana Arena.
Galatasaray dropped a 2-0 result at home to Atlético Madrid while Astana lost by the same score on the road to Benfica.
ATLÉTICO MADRID VS. BENFICA, AT ESTADIO VICENTE CALDERÓN, 2:45 P.M.
After picking up 2-0 wins in their respective UCL openers, Atlético Madrid and Benfica each looks to take over atop Group C in a clash at the Estadio Vicente Calderón.
Goals may come at a premium for Benfica in this fixture as it has not scored in three away matches this season, suffering 1-0 defeats in all of them. And for Jan Oblak, he has only conceded three goals this season in a span of two games.
Benfica will look to lean on the in-form Jonas, who managed to pick up seven goals in his eight club appearances in all competition this season to get a positive result on the road.
BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH VS. MANCHESTER CITY, AT BORUSSIA-PARK, 2:45 P.M.
Neither Manchester City nor Borussia Mönchengladbach got the results it had hoped for to kick off its campaign in the group of death two weeks ago.
City dropped a 2-1 loss at home to Juventus despite scoring first, and Mönchengladbach was beaten by Sevilla, 3-0, on the road.
Mönchengladbach also went through a coaching change after Lucien Favre resigned on Sept. 20 following five consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga, clearing way for André Schubert to take over.
The change proved to have a positive impact thus far, as Mönchengladbach picked up two straight wins under Schubert.
City, on the other hand, dropped successive league games after starting the English season going 5-0-0 while not conceding a goal. A road fixture may be challenging for Manuel Pellegrini’s squad, as City won just once away from home in last year’s UCL and are 4-1-5 in their last 10 road games in the competition.
JUVENTUS VS. SEVILLA, AT JUVENTUS STADIUM, 2:45 P.M.
Domestic league campaigns may not have started well for either Juventus or Sevilla, but their respective success in European competition is something they can still fall back on for the time being.
Despite picking up just five points through its first six Serie A games — its worst start in the campaign since 1969-70, Juventus is on a 13-match unbeaten run on home ground in UEFA competition, including a 5-1-0 record last season.
Two-time defending Europa League champions Sevilla, on the other hand, has picked up only two points in its first five La Liga games, but a 3-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in its UCL opener has the team off to a good start in the strenuous Group D.
SHAKHTAR DONETSK VS. PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN, AT ARENA LVIV, 2:45 P.M.
Paris Saint-Germain opened its 2015-16 UCL campaign with a 2-0 win over Malmö FF at home and look to have similar success when it travels to Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk, who dropped a 4-0 result on the road to Real Madrid in its opener.
PSG is the last undefeated team in Ligue 1 and is on a 17-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. Its last loss came at the hands of the eventual-champion Barcelona in the second leg of their 2014-15 UCL quarterfinals matchup.
MALMÖ FF VS. REAL MADRID, AT MALMÖ NEW STADIUM, AT 2:45 P.M.
A depleted Real Madrid squad heads into Sweden to take on Malmö FF, hoping the absences of several of its stars won’t be costly.
The Spanish giant will be without James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos and Danilo for this fixture, but Cristiano Ronaldo has a chance to make some history.
After becoming the UCL’s all-time leading scorer with a hat-trick on matchday one, Ronaldo has his sights set on both a personal and a club record this time. Sitting on 499 career goals, Ronaldo is also three goals shy of breaking Raúl’s record of 323 goals in all competitions.
MANCHESTER UNITED VS. VFL WOLFSBURG, AT OLD TRAFFORD, 2:45 P.M.
Manchester United’s return to UCL group stage started off well two weeks ago with an early goal, but hosts PSV Eindhoven responded with two unanswered scores to hand United a 2-1 defeat. Louis van Gaal’s squad will hope to have a better turnout this time around when it hosts VfL Wolfsburg.
The most expensive teenage footballer, Anthony Martial, has been a revelation for United so far, and Wayne Rooney tallied his first club goal since April 4 this past Saturday. Van Gaal would hope the two can keep things clicking to provide a formidable front for United.
Wolfsburg, on the other hand, were on the unfortunate end of Robert Lewandowski’s career day last time out. Lewandowski scored all five of his goals in a span of nine minutes to erase a 1-0 deficit for Bayern Munich and hand Wolfsburg its first defeat in 15 games in all competition.
CSKA MOSCOW VS. PSV EINDHOVEN, AT ARENA KHIMKI, 2:45 P.M.
PSV Eindhoven has never won consecutive games at the start of UCL group stage but it has a chance to do so when it travels to Russia to take on CSKA Moscow.
After a 2-1 come-from-behind win at home over Manchester United, PSV will hope some of the injuries the team has picked up won’t hinder its progress in the UCL, as the likes of Luuk de Jong, Andrés Guardado, Jetro Willems, etc won’t be available for selection.
CSKA, meanwhile, are awaiting final medical ruling on three of its players, including goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who picked up a knee injury Saturday, and Vasili Berezutski, who missed the match with an adductor problem.