Real Madrid play host to Juventus
Two European heavyweights will convene at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, as Real Madrid play host to Juventus in the Champions League.
Of the clubs’ 21 prior meetings in Europe’s elite competition, twice they have clashed in finals, with Madrid coming out on top in both 1998 and 2017.
A Europa League runner-up with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, Xabi Alonso is intent on claiming UEFA’s top prize this season, and Real Madrid’s ambitious head coach has started by winning his first two Champions League matches.
Following a nervy 2-1 victory over Marseille in September, Los Blancos beat Kairat Almaty 5-0 on matchday two.
Kylian Mbappe helped himself to a hat-trick as the 15-time European Cup winners comfortably completed their mission in Kazakhstan, putting them on track for a top-eight finish in the league phase.
Having won 12 of their last 13 home games at the group or league stage – only losing to AC Milan two years ago – Madrid will be back at the Bernabeu for this week’s fixture.
They warmed up for hosting Juventus with a 1-0 win over local rivals Getafe last weekend, when Mbappe’s late goal separated the sides at El Coliseum.
None of Real Madrid’s last 61 group or league-phase matches have finished goalless – a run that dates back a whole decade – and that streak should continue.
Juventus will arrive at one of football’s toughest arenas having gone six games without a win, while leaking plenty of goals – it all points to a home win.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Liverpool take on struggling Frankfurt
Flailing Premier League visitors Liverpool return to Champions League action on Wednesday, when they take on struggling Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park.
The German hosts are 15th in the league phase table with three points following a demoralising 5-1 defeat against Atletico Madrid on September 30, whereas the visitors are 17th with three points after they lost 1-0 against Galatasaray at the end of September.
Liverpool will have to be wary on the night given they are facing a team that managed to score 12 goals in the five matches leading up to Wednesday’s clash.
Considering that just one of the German club’s last 67 European matches have ended scoreless, there is sure to be plenty of action in both boxes.
A defeat at the hands of the English visitors would be their third consecutive loss at home, with the hosts also conceding seven times in their last two at Deutsche Bank Park.
Liverpool come into the clash off the back of a 2-1 defeat against fierce rivals Manchester United on Sunday, but more concerning than the loss has been the lack of improvement since the beginning of the season.
Liverpool cannot afford to lose a fifth consecutive game, but they will have to improve in the final third considering they scored just three goals in their four-match losing streak.
The Merseysiders have only encountered Frankfurt twice, winning 2-0 at Anfield and drawing 0-0 away from home in the first round of the 1972-73 edition of the UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League.
Liverpool will at some point arrest their poor form, but without drastic defensive improvements, they will likely fail to keep a clean sheet.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Chelsea and Ajax collide at Stamford Bridge
Both hitting historic milestones in the Champions League, Chelsea and Ajax collide at Stamford Bridge in Tuesday’s league-phase contest.
The Blues are contesting their 200th game in the tournament proper and are seeking their fourth win on the spin in all tournaments, while the Dutch side are simply aiming to get off the continental mark in their 250th top-level European match.
Condemning Jose Mourinho to a miserable West London homecoming, Chelsea made it second time lucky in the 2025-26 Champions League when they welcomed their erstwhile manager’s Benfica to the English capital on September 30.
The Club World Cup winners did not even need to put the ball in the back of the net themselves to earn a 1-0 triumph
Chelsea coach Maresca will endeavour to prolong a stellar sequence that has seen them avoid defeat in each of their last 15 UCL group stage/league-phase Champions League games at home, where they have been beaten in just two of their last 60 top-level European matches.
On the other side of the continental coin, Ajax only have to travel back a few weeks for their last Champions League defeat on home turf, succumbing to Inter Milan’s superiority in a 2-0 matchday one defeat before a Marseille mauling last time out.
Far from the force they used to be in Europe, Ajax’s squad is largely a mix of ageing veterans and embryonic talents who have little experience of Champions League football, and it has shown so far.
Heitinga’s men should therefore not put up much of a fight against the in-form Blues, who could subject the former UCL winners to quite the humiliation at Stamford Bridge.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Monaco, Tottenham faceoff in league-phase clash
Neither Monaco nor Tottenham Hotspur made winning returns to action following the international break, and the two inconsistent outfits now aim to right some wrongs in Wednesday’s Champions League league-phase clash at the Stade Louis II.
Both sides took one point from their matchday two encounters, as the Ligue 1 club held Manchester City to a 2-2 draw, while the Lilywhites played out their own four-goal thriller with Bodo/Glimt.
Already on the cusp of the automatic last-16 places, Tottenham have claimed a respectable four points from the first six on offer following their return to Champions League territory, although one may have felt like three away to Bodo/Glimt last time out.
For all of Tottenham’s travails on home soil, though, the North London outfit are still yet to suffer defeat on the road in the 2025-26 season, excluding their European Super Cup penalty-shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Also adapting to life under new management – albeit thanks to a much more recent change – Monaco will play their first European contest under the guidance of Sebastien Pocognoli this week, following the dismissal of Adi Hutter over the international break.
Only one of Tottenham’s last 18 games in the Champions League has seen the Lilywhites fail to score, while Monaco have played out just one goalless draw in their last 72 matches in any European competition.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
FIXTURES
Bayern Munich 19:00 Club Brugge
