After a 20-day break, The Champions League will resume its group stage on Tuesday with the start of the penultimate date and several vitally important presentations for European giants such as Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Catalans, in which it will be the Xavi Hernández’s continental debut as a coach, they will face a potentially defining duel against Nicolás Otamendi’s Benfica, from 5pm at the Camp Nou (ESPN television). The positions in this area have already classified Bayern Munich (12 points), followed by Barça (6), the Portuguese (4) and Dynamo Kiev (1).
Consequently, if Barcelona win, they will qualify for the second round, but if they tie or fall, the elimination will be closer than ever since, on the last date, he will have to visit Munich, while Benfica will be the home of the Ukrainians. It is worth remembering that in the first leg, the Lisbon team beat the Spaniards 3-0, who still had the Dutch Ronald Koeman as DT. In the first shift, from 2:45 p.m. (ESPN 2), Bayern will appear in Kiev.
Another that will have a premiere in the bank, but in absolute terms, will be el Manchester United by Cristiano Ronaldo. Following the Premier League win against Watford (1-4) at the weekend, Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired and his place will be covered on an interim basis by the former midfielder English Michael Carrick. The United will visit the Villarreal from Geronimo Rulli and Juan Foyth from 14:45 (ESPN) in a duel of pointers, since both lead their group with 7 units. Behind it appears with 5 points the Atalanta of Juan Musso and José Luis Palomino, who will visit the Swiss Young Boys (3) from 5 pm (ESPN Extra).
In London meanwhile there will be a heavyweight clash from 17 (ESPN 2) with the duel between Chelsea and Juventus by Paulo Dybala. The Turinenses are already classified (12 points) and the English (9) will suffice with a draw to go to the round, since Zenit de Saint Petersburg is third, with 3 units. The Russians, for their part, will visit the Swedish Malmo simultaneously, who have not yet added points or scored goals.
Finally, in the surprising Group G, Sevilla, with a large Argentine presence, will play its last chances by receiving German Wolfsburg, from 17 (ESPN 3). The team of Marcos Acuña, Papu Gómez, Gonzalo Montiel, Erik Lamela and Lucas Ocampos is last with just 3 points, while the Germans add 5. The unexpected leader is Austrian Salzburg (7), who will visit French Lille (5) also at 17.
On Wednesday it will be the turn of one of the most anticipated duels of this phase, with Manchester City (9) receiving PSG (8) from Lionel Messi, Angel Di María, Leandro Paredes and Mauro Icardi in a match between first and guard in Group A. It will not be the only highlight of the day, since the Atlético de Madrid of Diego Simeone, Rodrigo De Paul and Angel Correa (4) will be local to Milan (1) and will seek to add a victory to get out of third place in the area led by Liverpool (12) and Porto (5). What’s more, the Inter (7) of Lautaro Martínez and Joaquín Correa will try to seal his classification when he receives the Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk (1), while Real Madrid (9) will visit the Sheriff of the unrecognized State of Transnistria (6) in search of revenge after the hit in the first leg.
The positions
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