Chelsea are unbeaten at the start of the English Premier League, with striker Romelu Lukaku already scoring three goals. – Getty Images
Reigning champions Chelsea will begin their Champions League title defense when they face Zenit St. Petersburg in Group H on Tuesday. Chelsea, unbeaten in four Premier League games, will count on striker ace Romelu Lukaku to be on the top scorer list.
The big headline game of the day will be Barcelona without Lionel Messi against Bayern Munich. Cristiano Ronaldo will also play his first Champions League game for Manchester United in over a decade when the team meets Young Boys.
Barcelona’s ability to play in Europe without Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann will be at hosts Bayern Munich Put to the test – the team that has inflicted the most humiliating defeat for the Spanish team in recent times.
Bayern Munich, beaten 8-2, handed Barcelona over in the quarter-finals of the 2020 Champions League, marking the beginning of the Messi’s end -Era. The financial troubles that kept Barcelona from signing Messi again also forced them to loan Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid.
Ronald Koeman must find a way to explain the two strikers’ 58 goals last season. This task is up to Memphis Depay, who got off to a promising start at Camp Nou with two goals in three LaLiga games. Koeman should also have Spain’s standout Pedri Gonzalez back in his line-up after the young midfielder rested for two weeks after playing both the European Championship and the Tokyo Olympics.
Robert Lewandowski is traveling after recovering from a groin problem that he suffered in Saturday’s 4-1 win against Leipzig. Serge Gnabry has traveled with the squad but has doubts after injuring his back in the same game. Benfica are back in the group stage after a year of absence and are visiting Dynamo Kiev.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first Champions League game for Manchester United since the defeat in the 2009 final against Barcelona will be played on the only plastic field of the competition. The Swiss champions Young Boys used an artificial surface in the Wankdorf Stadium, which the then United coach Jose Mourinho complained about before the teams’ first group game three years ago. United won 3-0 that evening, with Paul Pogba scoring two goals before finishing second in a group won by Ronaldo and Juventus.
Ronaldo was the last time he played at Wankdorf Stadium in December 2018 , on the losing side, even though Juventus were already advanced. Unai Emery’s Villarreal welcomes Atalanta on his return to the Champions League after 10 years. The Spanish club made it back by beating Manchester United in the Europa League final last season. Atalanta appears for the third time in a row.
It’s been six years since Wolfsburg last played in the Champions League group stage. The key to success was a solid defense. In the Bundesliga last season, Wolfsburg conceded 37 fewer goals than all other teams except Leipzig and started this season with four wins and only one goal.
It will play against the French defending champion Lille, who is in his new home season has only won once in five games and conceded eleven goals. Lilles coach Jocelyn Gourvennec has to do without former Bayern Munich player Renato Sanches, who is injured alongside Jonathan Bamba and Timothy Weah. Sevilla welcome Salzburg at the start of their fifth Champions League season in the last seven seasons.
Chelsea are opening their European Championship defense against Zenit St. Petersburg, which is still unbeaten at the start of the English Premier League and already with return striker Romelu Lukaku has scored three goals. Juventus fights without Ronaldo as it prepares to visit Malmo.
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The Bianconeri have lost twice in a row in Serie A since Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and have only earned one point overall. Moise Kean, who was brought back to Turin to replace Ronaldo, made a huge mistake in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat in Naples.
After a two-goal performance for Italy, Kean turned a Napoli corner with one Heading back into his own goal, which led Kalidou Koulibaly to the winning goal. Since leaving Turin, Ronaldo has now had two braces for Portugal and United respectively.
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