Rejoice! The Champions League group stages return this week, with all of Europe's best teams in action across Tuesday and Wednesday. UEFA may well milk the Champions League for all its worth, but they're justified in doing so. It really is the greatest club football tournament on the planet, and the European season never feels like it has truly started until it returns.
So here we are. The pick of Tuesday's games is almost certainly Manchester City's tough home meeting with last year's runners-up Juventus, though there's plenty more to keep you entertained. Real Madrid face a potential banana skin in the shape of Shakhtar Donetsk, while eyes will also be on Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal's return to the fatherland as his side take on PSV Eindhoven. Elsewhere, Galatasaray will fancy their chances of upsetting Atlético Madrid, though PSG should have little problem swatting Malmö aside.
Wednesday's matches look a little less tasty, save for what should be a thriller at the Stadio Olimpico: AS Roma will look to carry their good domestic start into their difficult clash with reigning champions Barcelona, with these sides having not met in anger since 2002. On that occasion, the Italians ran out 3-0 winners. Elsewhere, Chelsea have what should be a routine fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv (though nothing seems to be routine for Chelsea at present), and Bayern Munich are unlikely to face too many problems against Olympiacos.
Schedule
All games 2:45 p.m. ET.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Group A
Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Malmö FF
Real Madrid 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Group B
Wolfsburg 1-0 CSKA Moscow
PSV 2-1 Manchester United
Group C
Galatasaray 0-2 Atlético Madrid
Benfica 2-0 Astana
Group D
Manchester City 1-2 Juventus
Sevilla 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Group E
Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 BATE
Roma 1-1 Barcelona
Group F
Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal
Olympiacos 0-4 Bayern Munich
Group G
Dynamo Kyiv 2-2 Porto
Chelsea 4-0. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Group H
Valencia 2-3 Zenit St. Petersburg
Gent 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais