Last year’s Champions League winners
Real Madrid go to Borussia Dortmund and Premier League champions
Leicester City host Porto looking to claim a second win in as many
games.
Group E
At Monaco
Monaco (FRA) v Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Former runners-up Monaco will be looking
to build on their impressive opening win over Tottenham Hotspur when
they welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Stade Louis II. The principality
club have not lost in four previous meetings with Leverkusen, beating
them home and away in the group stage two seasons ago. Leonardo Jardim’s
side are fresh from beating Angers 2-1 to go top of Ligue 1. It was
their eighth win in their last nine games but they were without Radamel
Falcao in that game after he suffered concussion in last Wednesday’s 4-0
defeat at Nice. Leverkusen, who drew 2-2 at home to CSKA Moscow on
matchday one, are mid-table in the Bundesliga but they travel to the
Mediterranean coast on the back of a 3-2 win at Mainz on Saturday, in
which Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez scored a hat-trick. Karim Bellarabi
is out until the end of the year with a groin injury.
At Moscow
CSKA Moscow (RUS) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Tottenham will look to kickstart their
European campaign in the Russian capital after losing 2-1 to Monaco at
Wembley last time out. Mauricio Pochettino’s side go to Moscow for the
first time and do so in second place in the Premier League after a 2-1
weekend win at Middlesbrough in which Son Heung-Min scored twice. Moussa
Sissoko could miss the game after suffering concussion at the weekend
and a depleted Spurs are already without striker Harry Kane while also
having major doubts over Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier and Danny Rose. CSKA
came from two goals down to draw in Leverkusen last time out to set them
up nicely for their first Champions League game in their new
30,000-seat stadium. Leonid Slutsky’s side drew 1-1 at home to Krasnodar
at the weekend with a goal from giant Ivorian striker Lacina Traore,
who once had a spell at Everton.
Group F
At Dortmund, Germany
Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Real Madrid (ESP)
One of the most highly-anticipated
showdowns of the group stage sees reigning champions Real Madrid head to
Germany to take on 1997 winners and 2013 runners-up Dortmund at the
Signal Iduna Park. Both teams are expected to progress to the last 16
and both won their opening matches, albeit in contrasting circumstances.
While Dortmund romped to a 6-0 win away at Legia Warsaw, Real needed
two late goals to come back and beat Sporting 2-1 at the Santiago
Bernabeu. Madrid won 3-2 on aggregate when the teams last met in the
quarter-finals in 2013/14, but they have been beaten on their last three
visits to Dortmund and they do not have a good record in Germany, with
just four wins from 29 trips. Zinedine Zidane’s side — for whom Pepe is
set to return — are still unbeaten this season but have drawn their last
two La Liga games at home to Villarreal and away at Las Palmas.
Dortmund, meanwhile, have won four on the bounce in all competitions,
scoring 20 goals in the process, and are unbeaten in 24 home Bundesliga
games, equalling a club record, after defeating Freiburg 3-1 on Friday.
Marco Reus is among the long-term absentees for Dortmund.
At Lisbon
Sporting (POR) v Legia Warsaw (POL)
These sides are expected to be fighting
it out for third place and a Europa League berth in the new year and
both lost their opening matches. Jorge Jesus’ Sporting were unlucky not
to take something from their trip to Madrid and will be favourites at
the Estadio Jose Alvalade, where they beat Estoril 4-2 on Friday with
Dutch summer signing Bas Dost scoring twice as they stayed second in the
Portuguese league behind leaders Benfica. Jesus serves a touchline ban
against Legia, who have changed coach since their humbling home loss to
Dortmund. A 3-2 home defeat to Zaglebie Lubin brought an end to Besnik
Hasi’s brief reign in the dugout. Former player Jacek Magiera is the new
coach of a team who have won just once in seven games.
Group G
At Copenhagen
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Club Brugge (BEL)
The Group G outsiders meet in the Danish
capital with Copenhagen looking to build on a 1-1 draw away to FC Porto
last time out. Stale Solbakken’s side are unbeaten in seven European
outings already this season and are four points clear atop their
domestic league after defeating AGH Aarhus 2-0 at the weekend with goals
from the Paraguayan forward Federico Santander and Kasper Kusk. In
contrast to their hosts, former European Cup runners-up Club Brugge have
had a poor start to the season and were brushed aside by Leicester
City, losing 3-0 on matchday one. Since then they have won three in a
row in all competitions, though. They also won 4-0 when they last went
to the Parken Stadium two seasons ago in the Europa League. Bjorn Engels
and Lior Refaelov miss the trip due to injury.
At Leicester, England
Leicester City (ENG) v FC Porto (POR)
The Premier League champions get set for
another historic moment as they host two-time European champions Porto
in the first ever Champions League game at the King Power Stadium.
Claudio Ranieri’s team lost 4-1 at Manchester United on Saturday, their
third league defeat already this season. However, a 3-0 win in Bruges
was an ideal start to their European campaign and Porto have lost and
failed to score on each of their last four visits to England. They will
be familiar with the threat of Leicester’s record signing Islam Slimani
from his time in Portugal with Sporting. Andre Silva scored twice as
Porto beat city rivals Boavista 3-1 at the weekend. Maxi Pereira is
expected to be fit for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, who were held at home
by Copenhagen after beating Roma to reach the group stage.
Group H
At Seville, Spain
Sevilla (ESP) v Lyon (FRA)
These two teams should fight it out to
go through to the last 16 along with Juventus. The Spaniards will fancy
their chances of taking three points at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Europa
League winners in each of the last three years, they held Juve in Italy
in their group opener and are looking good under new coach Jorge
Sampaoli. A 3-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday ended a six-game
unbeaten run, though, for a side that features half a dozen French
players. Lyon beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 at home in their opener but have
won just once in five in Ligue 1 outings and are without injured top
scorer Alexandre Lacazette for the trip. Their only win in last season’s
group stage came in Spain, against Valencia.
At Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Juventus (ITA)
The Italian champions, runners-up in
2015, did not get off to the best start as they were held to a goalless
draw by Sevilla but they will be expected to get a win under their belts
in Croatia against one of the weakest sides in the competition. The
Turin giants have injury worries too, with Kwadwo Asamoah and Daniele
Rugani joining Medhi Benatia and Claudio Marchisio on the sidelines in
the wake of the 1-0 weekend win at Palermo. Marko Pjaca could play,
though, against the team he left in the summer — he played for them and
scored twice in the win over Vardar Skopje in the second qualifying
round. Dinamo, who beat Arsenal at home last season, have bounced back
from a run of three straight defeats with back-to-back domestic wins.
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