Key players will be sidelined when the Champions League resumes on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) after a wave of injuries in a week since the competition’s new look.
Kylian Mbappé’s injured hamstring may sideline him on Wednesday (October 2) when he returns to France with defending champions Real Madrid to face Lille.
A serious knee injury means Manchester City midfielder Rodri is out for the season and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen is most likely to miss out.
Inter Milan midfielder Nicolò Barella, who featured against Rodri on September 18, will miss at least one Champions League match with a thigh injury.
Injuries to four players who took part in the European Championship’s knockout phase have sharpened the debate over player workloads in a calendar made more crowded by the bigger Champions League.
The extended program is the clubs that have an impact all-but forcing UEFA to make and 18 games this week, divided between Tuesday (October 1) and Wednesday (October 2), still leaving each of the other six to play until January.
Another final rematch
There were two final replays in the first week of the game that launched the Champions League in a single-standing format. Man City and Inter drew 0-0 and Liverpool won 3-1 at AC Milan.
The next rematch is on Wednesday when Aston Villa host Bayern Munich, the giants of the European Cup era who stunned 1-0 in the 1982 final.
Villa Park will host their first match in the competition since March 1983 when the English side’s title defense was ended by Juventus.
Both have won easily since the last two weeks. Villa won 3-0 at Young Boys and Bayern’s nine goals against Dinamo Zagreb is a record for any team in the 33-season Champions League era.
Harry Kane scored four in Bayern’s 9-2 win and has a fine record for visiting Villa, with five goals in five Premier League games for Tottenham. He faces a final check on his ankle injury.
Kane edges Haaland
Kane’s fast start to the season with 10 goals in seven games for Bayern has already surpassed Erling Haaland’s 10 goals in eight games for Man City.
Haaland was appointed Inter for the second time in 16 months, a fact he was reminded of in a conversation after the game with the central defender of the Italian champions Francesco Acerbi, who smiled and raised two fingers.
Haaland should have it easier on Tuesday in Slovakia when Man City face Slovan Bratislava, who suffered their second biggest defeat in the opening round, 5-1 at Celtic.
The size of the crowd and the passion of the fans
The pulsating atmosphere at Celtic Park for a rare European win by the Scottish champions stood out in the opening week where anticipation was not universal.
Experts including former Man City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel noted the silence around the stadium for the Inter match. The attendance was almost 2,000 higher five days later when Man City met Arsenal in a Premier League match where their title ambitions were at stake.
Milan-Liverpool was a European heavyweight matchup but it was far from a sell-out, fewer than 60,000 at the San Siro. Crowds exceeded 70,000 in each of Milan’s first two home games in Serie A this season, and 66,000 on the same Champions League opening night last season to see another English club, Newcastle.
Paris Saint-Germain attracted at least 46,000 fans to every home game in Ligue 1 this season – and all three Champions League group games last season – but fewer than 40,000 were at the Parc des Princes to see European debutants Girona two weeks ago.
Sporting Lisbon also had 40,000 fans for their Champions League opener against Lille a crowd of around 6,000 for their domestic league game against Porto.
Attendance and atmosphere trends will be watched as fans respond to the longer and more expensive program of four Champions League home games. The 36-team standings are set to be even more dynamic for the final two rounds in January.
Tuesday’s game
A raucous atmosphere should follow Celtic to Borussia Dortmund whose fans in the Yellow Wall stand are among the loudest in Europe.
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen host Milan after making a quick start in their 4-0 defeat at Feyenoord. The San Siro now returns to Inter to host Red Star Belgrade.
Arsenal host PSG in a meeting of two trophy-chasing teams who have never won. Each was a finalist who was beaten once. Also, Barcelona hosts Young Boys.
Wednesday’s game
Even without Mbappé, Madrid should have too much for Lille to play in the stadium that is hosting the basketball group stage matches at the Paris Olympics.
Premier League leaders Liverpool host Bologna, and Girona’s first European visitors at the Montilivi stadium are Feyenoord.
Dinamo Zagreb sacked their coach, Sergej Jakirovic, after the drubbing at Bayern and brought back Nenad Bjelica for a second spell. They started in the Champions League hosting Monaco.
Published – 29 September 2024 16:07 IST
