Champions League Tuesday match preview

2024-10-22 15:06 © scanpix

On Tuesday, after a short break, UEFA Champions League battles will return to the stadiums of the Old Continent.

The portal "EuroFootball.lt” looked ahead to the upcoming matches of the third round and the most interesting facts about them.

19:45 "Milan” – "Brugge”

The Milan club started the Champions League season with two losses, but after a 0:1 defeat in Dortmund, guest club manager Paulo Fonseca was not overly disappointed and praised his players for a "fantastic second half”.

In turn, "Brugge” defeated Graz "Sturm” 1:0, and Belgian coach Nicky Hayen predicted a hell of a match in the Italian fashion capital: "We are facing a very tough match because "Milan” must celebrate victory. Of course, in football, anything is possible.”

Interesting fact: "Milan” has won only two of its last 11 meetings in the UEFA Champions League.

Fighting fit ahead of #MilanBrugge 🥊#UCL #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/fn4u2eG1PM
— AC Milan (@acmilan) October 21, 2024

19:45 "Monaco” – "Crvena Zvezda”

The "Monaco” club started their Champions League campaign strongly, defeating "Barcelona” at home. However, they later drew 2:2 against GNK "Dinamo” away.

"Crvena Zvezda” has performed unimpressively – suffering two losses against "Inter” from Milan and "Benfica” from Lisbon. "We want to go as far as possible, and we can only think about the upcoming match. We played against very strong opponents, but let’s not forget that there are still many matches left,” said Serbian club coach Vladan Milojević.

Interesting fact: there has been no "dry draw” of 0:0 in any of the last 19 tournament matches for "Crvena Zvezda”.

22:00 PSG – PSV

After losing 1:3 to "Juventus” in the first round, PSV managed to secure at least a point in their match against "Sporting” (1:1). "We have shown what we can achieve as a team, which we failed to demonstrate in the match against the Italians,” explained forward Luuk De Jong.

PSG coach Luis Enrique expressed his disappointment after a 0:2 defeat to "Arsenal”: "We knew it would be a tough match, where we would constantly feel the pressure from the opponents. We failed to cope with that and lost personal duels. It will be difficult to compete if we continue to play like this.”

Interesting fact: PSG has lost only one of its last 37 home matches in the group stage of the tournament (29 wins, 7 draws).

22:00 "Juventus” – "Stuttgart”

With 27 shots on goal, 11 of which were on target, and 69% possession, the team left Prague with just one point. "We did not have enough of a result of 1:1 when we controlled the whole match,” stated German forward Jamies Leweling.

Meanwhile, "Juventus,” even without the suspended goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, managed to bounce back and triumph 3:2 in Leipzig.

Interesting fact: The Turin club has won its last five UEFA tournament matches against German clubs.

Team spirit ⚪️⚫️📈 pic.twitter.com/dGarCYWEpS
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) October 21, 2024

22:00 "Arsenal” – "Šachtar”

The "Gunners” are surprising with their defense in the Champions League – the English have not conceded a single goal so far and have kept PSG and Bergamo’s "Atalanta” at bay. "We have learned from last season when we reached the quarterfinal stage. Now we have "grown” as a team, we are all a year older and ready for future challenges,” said "Arsenal” forward Kai Havertz.

In turn, "Šachtar” has yet to score a goal. "We lack aggression in crucial attacking phases,” summed up team defender Alaa Ghram.

Interesting fact: history does not promise anything tragic for the Ukrainians – the Donetsk team has twice beaten "Arsenal” in four matches, but both victories were achieved in front of their own fans.

22:00 "Aston Villa” – "Bologna”

The English made history by defeating mighty Bayern Munich 1:0 in their debut match at home. However, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez remained grounded, stating: "This is a statement, but there are still many matches to play. We want to reach the TOP eight.”

Bologna has yet to experience the joy of victory, but head coach Vincenzo Italiano assured that the match at "Anfield” (0:2) did not bring them shame: "We created opportunities and gave "Liverpool” problems. We knew we were learning and that we could bounce back in the future.”

Interesting fact: in their last 33 UEFA tournament home matches, "Aston Villa” has failed to score in just one.

22:00 "Girona” – "Slovan”

Both teams are hunting for their first points, but the Spaniards have been closer to their goal so far – they lost to PSG and "Feyenoord” by narrow margins.

Interesting fact: before losing to "Feyenoord,” "Girona” had shown solid performance in all home matches across tournaments (14 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses).

22:00 Graz "Sturm” – "Sporting”

In the previous Europa League season, the Portuguese defeated their future opponents twice (2:1 and 3:0), and their sniper Viktor Gyokeres scored in both matches. However, "Sporting” coach Ruben Amorim stated that his team must better utilize the forward: "We lacked good decisions in attacking against PSV, and Viktor was often isolated from the team.”

Interesting fact: in their last 10 UEFA tournament matches, "Sporting” has suffered only one defeat (4 wins, 5 draws).

22:00 "Real” – Dortmund "Borussia”

The finalists of last season's tournament enter the match with different moods. "Borussia” crushed "Celtic” 7:1, while "Real” lost 0:1 to "Lille.” "We must learn from our mistakes, as there are still many matches left to play,” explained Madrid team's coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"We can reach the finals of the tournament again if we play like we did against "Celtic.” The sky is the limit,” assured the shining Borussia forward Karim Adeyemi.

Interesting fact: In the entire history of the tournament, both teams have played against each other 15 times - "Real” celebrated 7 victories. There have also been 5 draws and three wins for "Borussia”.