Liverpool, Atletico kick-start their Champions League campaign
Liverpool and Atletico Madrid kick-start their 2026-27 Champions League campaign with a mouth-watering League Phase battle at Anfield on Wednesday night.
This fixture represents a repeat of matchday one from last season, when the Reds claimed a 3-2 home victory over their Spanish counterparts, with Virgil van Dijk netting a 92nd-minute winner.
After coming from behind to rescue solitary points in back-to-back 2-2 draws with Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, Liverpool celebrated their first win of the Andoni Iraola era last Friday when they secured a 2-0 away victory over Ipswich Town.
Two goals scored in the opening nine minutes by Alexander Isak ensured that Iraola avoided becoming the Reds’ first manager since Brendan Rodgers to fail to win any of his opening three top-flight matches, with the Spaniard admitting that his team “needed that one with the way it has been”.
Iraola is now preparing for his first taste of Champions League football as a manager, with six-time winners Liverpool seeking to better last season’s quarter-final finish and end their eight-year wait to lift Europe’s most prestigious club trophy.
The Reds enter this year’s League Phase having finished in the top three of the 36-team table in each of the last two campaigns, coming first in 2024-25 and third last season with six wins out of eight. They have also won their last six League Phase meetings with Spanish opposition, keeping four clean sheets in their last five.
After accumulating seven points from their opening three La Liga fixtures of the new season, Atletico Madrid’s unbeaten start came to an end on Saturday when they suffered a deserved 3-0 away defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
Though Simeone’s men possess the tools to hurt the hosts, Los Rojiblancos have historically struggled to grind out results against English opposition.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Arsenal head to Napoli in their league-phase opener
The Champions League trophy has arguably never been nearer to Arsenal‘s reach, and the reigning Premier League champions begin their next bid for European supremacy on Wednesday evening, when they head to Napoli in their league-phase opener.
Mikel Arteta has overseen a 100% start to the campaign in North London, whereas Massimiliano Allegri‘s men are at risk of a third straight loss in all tournaments this week.
Quarter-finalists in 2023-24, semi-finalists in 2024-25 and beaten finalists in 2025-26; the Champions League chronicle suggests that this year will belatedly be Arsenal’s year, after a second dose of continental heartache 20 years on from their first.
The Emirates faithful must, therefore, suck up another several months of “Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that” jibes from rival supporters, but having gone unbeaten in all 15 Champions League games in normal time, while keeping more clean sheets (nine) and conceding fewer goals (seven) than any other team in the tournament, that chant may not hold out much longer.
A visit to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona represents a daunting opening fixture, but Arsenal have avoided defeat in each of their last nine matchday one fixtures in European competition, winning seven and drawing two such contests.
Arteta vs. Allegri pits together two managers accused of ‘anti-football’ philosophies, but the latter’s Napoli outfit have thus far failed to demonstrate the defensive resilience his serial-winning Juventus sides became famed for.
Also blessed with multiple options for change in midfield and attack, Arteta’s men have our backing to kickstart their Champions League campaign on the right foot.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Barcelona begin campaign with home fixture against Feyenoord
Barcelona will begin their 2026-27 Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening with a home fixture against Dutch giants Feyenoord.
The Catalan outfit are bidding to win the European Cup for the first time since 2015, while Feyenoord have also previously triumphed in this competition, lifting the trophy in 1970.
Barcelona have been note perfect in the early stages of the 2026-27 campaign, posting four straight wins in La Liga over Elche, Athletic Bilbao, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia, scoring 17 times in the process, which has left them at the top of the division.
Hansi Flick‘s side will always be desperate for more domestic success, but it would be fair to say that the Champions League is the trophy that the club really want to win this season.
Barcelona last won the European Cup in 2015 – their fifth success in the tournament, but they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2025-26 competition by Atletico Madrid.
The Catalan outfit also reached the semi-finals in 2024-25, falling short due to a leaky defence.
Barcelona have faced Feyenoord on just two previous occasions, which both came in the last-16 stage of the 1974-75 Champions League, with the La Liga club running out 3-0 winners on aggregate.
Feyenoord have also made a strong start to the campaign and are capable of making this a tricky match for Barcelona, but we are fully expecting the Catalan outfit to emerge victorious.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
PSG welcome Slovan Bratislava to Parc des Princes
Beginning their bid to claim a third straight Champions League crown, Paris Saint-Germain will kick off their second title defence by welcoming Slovan Bratislava to Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
While PSG were peerless as they lifted the trophy last term, qualifiers Slovan lost all eight games on their only previous appearance.
Though PSG started their quest for back-to-back Champions League titles quite slowly – only finishing 11th in last season’s league phase – they still took top spot on the podium again.
Only the second team to retain Europe’s top prize in the Champions League era – after Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018 – PSG seem intent on building a dynasty, with Enrique recently extending his contract.
However, since kicking off the current campaign by beating Aston Villa to keep the UEFA Super Cup they have hit a rare rocky patch: including defeat to Lens in the Trophee des Champions, PSG have yet to win any of four domestic fixtures, leaving them 13th in Ligue 1.
Last time out, Les Parisiens were beaten by old foes Monaco, who came from behind to win 2-1 at Parc des Princes on Friday evening.
None of the last 35 European Cup or Champions League holders have lost their first game of the next campaign on home turf, and that trend will surely continue.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Liverpool 19:00 Atletico Madrid
