Soccer
Five things to watch out for in Wednesday's Champions League games
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The Champions League league phase reaches its halfway point on Matchday Four, and there are several huge clashes to look forward to on Wednesday evening.
With narratives up and down the fixture list, DAZN News picks out five things to watch out for on night two of this week's action.
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Haaland to haunt old club...again
You don't have to feel hard done by to see Erling Haaland score past you this season, because he's doing it to pretty much everyone he plays against, but it may sting more if the inevitable happens again at The Etihad.
The Norwegian's former club, Borussia Dortmund, travel to Manchester looking to be the latest side to try and stop the striking Viking, which has been almost impossible so far this season.
It's 17 goals in 13 matches so far for the City forward, and he already has form against his former employers, netting an areobatic winner in the 2-1 win over the Germans in 2022, which went on to win the competition's Goal of the Season.
They've been warned.
European nights lighting up Newcastle's season Imago Images
It's been difficult to work out what Newcastle we're seeing this season. In the Premier League, they seem to go for one good result to a bad one, with their away form a real concern after their defeat to West Ham last weekend.
What is fuelling their season, though, is Champions League nights under the St James' Park lights and it could just be the thing that keeps their campaign going.
They may have been bested on matchday one when they were beaten by Barcelona, but the atmosphere was almost unrivalled.
It reached that level once again last time out, when the Magpies rolled over Jose Mourinho's Benfica and it will be needed once more when they host Athletic Bilbao this week.
Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Chelsea to be wary
The Blues head to Azerbaijan as favourites as they take on Qarabag, but as the current Champions League table suggests, this is a side that shouldn't be underestimated.
Gurban Gurbanov's side already pulled off the comeback of the campaign by beating Benfica in Portugal to open their Champions League season, and have since beaten Copenhagen on home soil, too.
With a Chelsea team lacking consistency and missing the jewel in the crown of Cole Palmer, the game presents the cliched 'difficult place to go' and they can't take Qarabag lightly.
After all, they go into it level on points with their hosts in this league phase.
Getty
No one's talking about Inter
There's been plenty of talk about PSG, Bayern and England and Spain's leading lights when it comes to potential Champions League winners, but Inter are quietly going about their business once again and host Kairat on Matchday Four.
It will be sixteen years since Inter themselves were the last Italian team to win the competition, and they look like they could be the likeliest to change that stat, if a Serie A side is to go all the way.
It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, given that they've reached two of the last three finals and no team will be more desperate to reach the showpiece, just so they can make up for the humiliation suffered at the hands of PSG in last year's finale.
Getty Images
Jose's in trouble
Only two teams remain pointless so far in the Champions League this season - and they are both former European champions.
Ajax look a shadow of their legendary status, but alongside them are Jose Mourinho's Benfica, who are yet to get off the mark in the competition.
True, they've faced consecutive tricky trips to England, where they've been beaten by both Chelsea and Newcastle, but they need points and quickly if they are to remain in European action this season.
This week they face Bayer Leverkusen, who themselves are smarting following a demolition from PSG, and only a win will do to stop Jose's Champions League return ending before it ever really got started.
@SLBenfica
Full Champions League fixture list for Matchday 4
Tuesday 4 November
- Napoli vs Eintracht Frankfurt
- Slavia Prague vs Arsenal
- Atletico Madrid vs Union-SG
- Bodo/Glimt vs Monaco
- Juventus vs Sporting
- Liverpool vs Real Madrid
- Olympiakos vs PSV
- PSG vs Bayern Munich
- Tottenham vs Copenhagen
Wednesday 5 November
- Pafos vs Villarreal
- Qarabag vs Chelsea
- Ajax vs Galatasaray
- Benfica vs Bayer Leverkusen
- Club Brugge vs Barcelona
- Inter Milan vs Kairat
- Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
- Marseille vs Atalanta
- Newcastle United vs Atletico Bilbao
Visionhaus/Getty Images
How to watch the Champions League on DAZN
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Canada: Watch every Champions League game with a DAZN subscription
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U.S.: Watch three exclusive Champions League games every match week, in Spanish language, with a DAZN subscription
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New Zealand: Watch every Champions League game with a DAZN subscription
