Find out everything you need to know about each of the 16 matches as the second part of the group stage of the 2023/24 Uefa Champions League gets underway.
The group stage of the 2023–24 Uefa Champions League has reached its halfway point; keep up to date with the upcoming fixtures as the best of the best prepare for the final stage on Matchday 4.
The seventh of November, today
18:45 Match between Dortmund and Newcastle
Nico Schlotterbeck’s analysis of Borussia Dortmund’s triumph on Matchday 3 summed up how evenly matched the clubs are. Both teams will enter Germany tied on four points. “A draw would probably have been a fair result, but we’ll happily take the win and we’re back in a good position in the group,” according to him. “We can improve a little bit on the ball, but I really enjoy these man-on-man duels.” We worked pretty well together to accomplish that in the defensive line.” This defense will be put to the test once more by Newcastle, who are tied for first place in scoring in the Premier League. Kieran Trippier said, “We weren’t anywhere near our best.” We are well aware that we are capable of significantly improved performance.
Have you been informed?
In their last 10 encounters in the group stage of the Champions League, Dortmund has only two defeats to their name (won 4, drawn 4).
Shakhtar Donetsk takes on Barcelona at 18:45 (local time).
Their new head coach, Marino Puic, believes that his players are already putting his vision to life on the pitch because the Ukrainian team battled Barcelona to the very end in their first game under his direction. “Shakhtar are a big team and we must play good football,” according to him. “We need to put pressure on our opponents and make an effort to impose ourselves. We exhibited bravery even when we were required to suffer. Given his assessment of Shakhtar following the most recent match, his counterpart, Xavi Hernández, is anticipating more of the same from his team: “They competed for the ball, they wanted to match us – they were good in technical terms.”
Have you been informed?
Ferran Torres, who plays for Barcelona, has found the back of the net nine times during the group stage of the Champions League, and his teams have come out on top every time.
The match between Atlético de Madrid and Celtic is at 21:00.
Atletico had to exert a lot of effort in order to salvage a 2-2 draw in the first matchup, and Diego Simeone is anticipating that the Scottish side will be able to disrupt his team’s preparations just as they did the previous time. “We couldn’t play the way we wanted to in the first half,” according to him. “We spoke at halftime and said that we had to play with courage and create goalscoring opportunities.” The fact that they did so places Brendan Rodgers’ side in a perilous position in the group, but Matt O’Riley, a midfielder for the team, is still optimistic: “I think you’ve seen with each game we are improving, so we have got lots to look forward to.”
Have you been informed?
Only one of Atlético’s ten encounters against Scottish opponents ended in a loss (they won six and drew three).
Feyenoord vs. Lazio at 21:00 (local time)
Pedro Rodrguez has cautioned his teammates at Lazio that they cannot afford to put in a performance similar to the one they gave in the 3-1 loss against Feyenoord the previous time around. “We knew they were very strong, with skilled players,” according to him. They are very aggressive on the field and have good control of the ball. They are a challenging adversary, but it is to be expected for teams competing in the Champions League to be at a high level. This is not the way that we can afford to approach a match. Justin Bijlow, who plays in goal, anticipates a different Lazio performance here as well: “We know that in the Champions League, especially against a team like Lazio, that you have to stay sharp at all times.”
Have you been informed?
In each of their previous 15 matches in the Champions League group stage, Lazio has managed to find the back of the net.
Milan taking on Paris at 21:00
Yunus Musah, a midfielder for Milan, attempted to find some silver lining in the team’s 3-0 loss to Paris by expressing the following: “After every game, we feel like we were centimetres away from winning.” At least we’re getting into positions where we have opportunities; now it’s just a matter of seizing those opportunities. The 17-year-old midfielder Warren Za’re-Emery, who was named Player of the Match on Matchday 3 and is a symbol of a Paris squad that is starting to get their stride, is an example of a young guy who is surely making the most of his opportunity. “We are showing our good state of mind, we’re a good team and that’s really important,” according to him. “We will do everything to win this second game.”
Have you been informed?
Paris has gone unbeaten in their last ten matches against Italian opponents, winning four of those matches and drawing six of them.
Man City will take on Young Boys at 21:oo.
Pep Guardiola lauded Erling Haaland after the tenacious Norwegian striker scored two goals to lead City to a victory over the Swiss team on Matchday 3, although he acknowledged that the attacker may benefit from better service. “This guy is going to score goals all his life,” according to him. “He’s an incredible threat, but we sometimes miss the players who have the ability to find the pass, the tempo, like Kevin [De Bruyne] and Gündogan in the past.” During this time, YB head coach Raphael Wicky devised a strategy for defeating the defending champions on Matchday 4: “In order to beat a team like this, you need to play a perfect game. Having a perfect performance involves taking risks while avoiding giving up goals on set pieces.
Have you been informed?
City has won their past four matches in the group stage of the Champions League by a score of 3-1.
Crvena zvezda takes on Leipzig at 21:00 (local time).
Christoph Baumgartner is looking forward to this challenging trip, but he has cautioned his colleagues that they need to improve if they want to repeat their 3-1 victory from Matchday 3 of the Bundesliga season. “We were too sloppy with the ball, we didn’t react perfectly when we were defending, and we were fortunate on a few occasions.” He remarked that “that needs to be improved.” “As of right now, we are on our way to Belgrade, which is home to one of the most amazing stadiums in all of Europe. If we have a comparable level of success there, I have faith that we are headed in the right direction for the group stage. However, Mirko Ivanic believes that his teammates on Crvena zvezda will put out a stronger performance in Belgrade. He stated, “We showed that we can handle this team and believe that it will be different in Belgrade.”
Have you been informed?
In their previous 14 matches across all competitions, Crvena Zvezda have only been held scoreless once.
Match between Porto and Antwerp at 21:00
Pepê, a midfielder for Porto, acknowledged that his team had to improve after going into halftime trailing 1-0, saying, “The coach adjusted a few things at the break.” Despite the fact that Porto won Matchday 3 by a score of 4-1, Pepê acknowledged that his team had to improve. During the first half, we had some difficulty, but in the second half, we were able to execute all that we had been working on during the week. We put a lot of pressure on the other team, we scored goals, and we had a terrific victory.” The Belgian daily Le Soir summed up how Antwerp may feel after leading at home for the second Champions League game in a row but losing again by saying, “Antwerp may hold regrets. But above all else, they have to gain the appropriate wisdom from these failures at the highest level.
Have you been informed?
Only Yacine Brahimi, who scored a hat-trick against BATE Borisov in 2014, and Evanilson, who scored three goals in the previous match, are the only Porto players who have ever accomplished this feat in the Champions League.
This coming Wednesday, November 8
Napoli takes on Union Berlin at 18:45 local time.
After suffering their ninth straight loss across all competitions on Matchday 3, the head coach of the Union, Urs Fischer, is eager for a change in their luck: Even though we made a significant amount of effort to prevent them from having more than one shot on goal, we were still defeated 1-0. In spite of that, we fared quite well overall. We didn’t really miss out on all that much today.” Even if Napoli have not quite found the form they had last season, there are signs that players such as Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are going back to their best. Kicker stated that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s “individual actions made all the difference” during that triumph in the match that was played against them in the reverse game.
Have you been informed?
In their last four encounters against German clubs, Napoli has come out on top and not allowed a single goal to be scored against them.
Real Sociedad takes on Benfica at 18:45 (local time).
Brais Méndez is the embodiment of the vitality that Real Sociedad possesses as a squad. He has scored in each of their three group matches and has contributed to the leaders of their section earning seven points out of a possible nine in their first campaign in the Champions League since 2013/14. “The truth is that this is the competition you’ve dreamed about since you were a kid,” according to him. “The start we have had has been almost perfect.” Benfica, on the other hand, are still winless in the competition after suffering a 1-0 loss on Matchday 3. Roger Schmidt, the coach of Benfica, has identified the areas in which his team has to improve in order to remain in the competition, saying, “We’re having trouble creating.” We have talent, but right now we are unable to win duels, play the right balls, or make the plays that will decide the game.
Have you been informed?
La Real has only two defeats to their name in their last 19 matches played in the group stage of the European Championship (W10 D7).
Bayern takes on Galatasaray at 21:00 local time.
In the most recent few weeks, patience has shown to be a virtue for Bayern. Kingsley Coman, who scored one of Bayern Munich’s goals in the first matchup between these two teams, said the following after the 3-1 victory that Bayern had in the rematch: “It wasn’t easy because they created a lot of pressure, but there was more space in the second half and I think that’s why we scored more after the break.” In their subsequent match, which was played against Darmstadt, the team led by Thomas Tuchel scored eight goals in the second half. This served to emphasize the point. Galatasaray’s Kaan Ayhan, on the other hand, is confident that his team can compete with Bayern Munich throughout the full match, as he stated, “We put Bayern under a lot of pressure, not only in the first half but throughout the game, and created a lot of scoring chances.” Galatasaray won the game 2-1.
Have you been informed?
Coman scored his 62nd goal for Bayern in all competitions on Matchday 3, and the club has a record of W53 D3 L0 in the games in which he has found the back of the net.
Copenhagen taking on Manchester United at 21:00
André Onana, the team’s goalkeeper, thinks that the added-time penalty save that he made that secured their victory on Matchday 3 will give their campaign a new lease on life. He said, “You cannot always be on top.” It is not an easy process to become a player for United. You require a substantial amount of personality. You need to have a lot of strength. Because we are Manchester United, getting through will be no problem at all. We are a sizable organization. We can’t lose this match.” Jacob Neestrup, the coach of Copenhagen, does not believe that his team’s near-misses in the group stage were the result of chance. “I don’t believe in bad luck in football,” according to him. “The outcome of a football game is often determined by key saves or goals, and we have not been able to swing the balance in our favor in any of the first three matches, which have only resulted in one point.” That’s just the cold, hard truth.
Have you been informed?
United has scored at least one goal in 16 of their past 17 matches played in the Champions League.
Match between Arsenal and Sevilla at 21:00
Gabriel Jesus has also scored in each of the group’s three matches, and he believes that Mikel Arteta’s squad is up to the challenge of competing in the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17. Gabriel Jesus has scored in all three of the group’s matches. “It isn’t easy to play with the courage we have on the big stage,” he added, despite the fact that the striker faces a time on the sidelines after suffering a late injury to his thigh in Spain. “It isn’t easy to play with the courage we have on the big stage.” “This gives us confidence but at the same time we want more.” In the meantime, Nemanja Gudelj is adamant that Sevilla can still advance even if they do not yet have a win in the group and suffered a 2-1 loss in their most recent match: “We had moments where we outplayed Arsenal in the pressing,” according to him. “We demonstrated that we are going to make their game at Arsenal a very difficult one,” the coach said. We have faith in our own abilities.
Have you been informed?
Arsenal has scored at least one goal in each of their previous 20 matches in the group stage of the Champions League.
PSV Eindhoven takes on Lens at 21:00 (local time).
After playing to a draw against Lens, PSV are still looking for their first victory in the group stage in over eight years, but their attacking powers are ready to take on the challenge. Following the conclusion of that match, striker Johan Bakayoko was quoted as saying, “Both Chucky and I have the ability to take on defenders and then make space for a shot.” In spite of the fact that our fate is still in our own hands, we must prevail over Lens in Eindhoven. However, given that Lens has already gone nine consecutive games without allowing more than one goal, including their 4-0 victory over Nantes on October 28, this will not be a simple challenge to accomplish. Franck Haise, the team’s head coach, made the following observation after that game: “Nothing can be taken for granted, but we’ve been more like ourselves for a while, and tonight’s game proves it.”
Have you been informed?
Lens are winless in their past five matches in the Champions League (won three, drawn two).
Real Madrid takes on Braga at 21:00 local time.
On Matchday 3, Braga gave the Spanish giants a fight for their money, but coach Artur Jorge is aware that qualifying will be difficult for his team because they only have three points after three games. We are still in the race, but we have two challenging road games coming up [against Real Madrid and Napoli]. But as true warriors that we are, we have already demonstrated that we came here to fight. They will need to stop Jude Bellingham if they want to pull off an upset because he scored in the first game between these two teams and then added two more goals when Madrid won El Clásico on October 28. “We’re all surprised at the level he’s at,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti. “We’re all impressed.” “It wouldn’t be hard for him to tally 20 or 25 goals. He is a very significant contributor to our team. He is the player who has contributed the most to the team’s success.
Have you been informed?
There has not been a single tie in any of Braga’s previous 15 matches in the group stage of the Champions League.
Match: Salzburg (at 21:00) vs. Inter
“Our performance is worthy of our pride since it exemplifies what we are capable of achieving. Alexander Schlager, the goalkeeper for Salzburg, provided his evaluation following the team’s loss in Milan, when they were defeated 2-1. “From the first second we played bravely and with confidence, we caused them problems again and again,” Schlager said. If Inter wins this match, they would go to the round of 16, but Inter’s head coach Simone Inzaghi is not taking anything for granted. “We have seven points now, but it is a very balanced group,” according to him. “Now that we have two away games in a row, we are well aware that the Champions League does not have any easy matchups. The return match will be fairly comparable to the first, as Salzburg have maintained this style of play for a number of years.
Have you been informed?
In the history of the European Cup and Champions League, including qualifying rounds, Inter has now amassed a total of 100 victories.
