By Razeen Gutta
Continental football finally returns for an all-new season with all eyes on match day one of the Uefa Champions League as the road to Wembley kicks off on Tuesday.
Manchester City will begin their title defence at the Etihad stadium when they host Red Star Belgrade at 9pm on Tuesday. Meanwhile Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United join Pep Guardiola’s side as the other English clubs in the competition.
The Magpies find themselves in the group of death on their return to the tournament, with French champions PSG, seven-time winners AC Milan and German giants Borussia Dortmund joining them in Group F. They take on AC Milan at 6.45pm on Tuesday.
For Erik ten Hag’s struggling United, the difficult start to the season is not set to get any easier on Wednesday as they make a trip to Munich to take on Bayern at 9pm.
The Bundesliga champions will have England captain Harry Kane leading the line as the forward returns to the big time with an opening fixture against the side he was so heavily linked with in the summer.
Arsenal will begin their campaign after six years away from the cup at home to PSV on Wednesday at 9pm, though they also have Europa League champions Sevilla to contend with in Group B.
The competition’s most successful side, Real Madrid, will face Union Berlin in their first game at 6.45pm on Tuesday, with Los Blancos also drawn with Napoli and Braga in Group C. Their rivals Barcelona will face Antwerp on Tuesday at 9pm before taking on Porto and Shakhtar.
According to simulations based on Gracenote’s Euro Club Index, Manchester City are favourites to retain the title with a massive 37% chance of going all the way again. Real Madrid (13%) and Bayern Munich (11%) are next in line if the odds are anything to go by.
All the action will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Pictured above: Manchester City striker Erling Haaland
Image source: @mancitymen
