What to expect in the UEFA Champions League this week.

Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City 28 September 2021 21:00

• Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City will meet for the sixth time in this game, while the French side are still looking for their first win in this fixture (D2 L3). Only against Juventus (8) have Paris Saint-Germain played more games in European competition without winning.
• Paris Saint-Germain have failed to keep a clean sheet in all four of their meetings with Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League – only against AC Milan have they played as many games as possible without managing a clean sheet in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (also four).
• Including two defeats to Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League last season, Paris Saint-Germain have lost four of their last five games against English sides in the competition (W1). Indeed, the French side have lost each of their last three games when hosting English opponents (v Manchester United in 2019 and 2020, v Manchester City in 2021).
• Paris Saint-Germain was held by Club Brugge on MD1, extending their winless run in the UEFA Champions League to four games (D1 L3). The last time they failed to win their opening two games of a campaign in this competition was back in 2004-05, losing 0-3 to Chelsea and 0-2 v CSKA Moscow.
• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 10 away games in the UEFA Champions League (W8 D2), while they haven’t lost an away game in the competition outside of England since December 2017 (1-2 v Shakhtar Donetsk).
• Paris Saint-Germain is winless in their last three home games in the UEFA Champions League (D1 L2), with the most recent one being a defeat to Manchester City last season. All three of those have come in the knockout stages of the competition, however, while they’ve only lost one of their last 27 home games in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League (W21 D5).
• Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi has scored six goals in six UEFA Champions League games against teams managed by Pep Guardiola (four against Manchester City and two against Bayern Munich) – the most of any player in the competition against the current Manchester City boss.
• On MD1 against RB Leipzig, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish became the first Englishman to both score and assist on his UEFA Champions League debut since Wayne Rooney in September 2004 (versus Fenerbahçe). Grealish could become the first English player to score in both of his first two appearances in the UEFA Champions League. 
• Neymar has scored 14 goals in 13 home games for Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, while also providing four assists in this run. The Brazilian has averaged either a goal or assist every 65 minutes for PSG at the Parc des Princes in the competition.
• Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the three players who have made the most successful take-ons in the UEFA Champions League are the trio who started up front for Paris Saint-Germain on MD1 of this season’s tournament: Lionel Messi (124), Neymar (110) and Kylian Mbappé (70).

AC Milan v Atletico Madrid 28 September 2021 21:00

• AC Milan and Atlético Madrid’s only previous meetings came in the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League, where the Italian side lost both legs and were eliminated in the Round of 16.
• This will be Atlético Madrid’s fifth away game against Italian opposition in the UEFA Champions League under Diego Simeone. Since winning the first of these (1-0 v AC Milan in February 2014), Atlético have failed to win each of the last four without scoring a goal (D2 L2).
• AC Milan have only won one of their last 17 games against Spanish opponents in European competition (D7 L9), while they’re winless in the seven games since the only victory in this run – 2-0 v Barcelona in February 2013.
• Atlético Madrid have only failed to win their opening two games of a UEFA Champions League campaign on one previous occasion under Diego Simeone – drawing 0-0 against Roma and losing 1-2 to Chelsea in the 2017-18 tournament. 
• AC Milan have only kept one clean sheet in their last 10 home games in European competition (3-0 v Sparta Prague in October 2020), with all of those coming in the UEFA Europa League (including qualifiers). This will be their first home game in the UEFA Champions League since a 0-1 defeat to Atlético Madrid in February 2014.
• Atlético Madrid have lost five of their last nine away games in the UEFA Champions League (W3 D1), while their previous five defeats on the road in the competition came over a run of 18 games (W6 D7).
• AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in five of his last six starts in the UEFA Champions League (five goals), although this would be his first start in the competition since April 2016 (v Manchester City). 
• Antoine Griezmann is Atlético Madrid’s all-time top scorer in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (21 goals) and could also become their outright top scorer in away games if he finds the net in this game (currently on five).
• In their defeat at Anfield on MD1, Brahim Diaz (22y 43d) became the youngest player to score on his UEFA Champions League debut for AC Milan since Yoann Gourcuff in September 2006 (20y 64d v AEK Athens). The last player to score in his first two UEFA Champions League appearances for AC Milan was teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who did so back in September 2010.
• Atlético Madrid attempted just six shots and recorded an xG total of 0.3 in their last game against FC Porto – this was their lowest xG game total in the UEFA Champions League since May 2017 against Real Madrid in a semi-final clash (0.2).

Manchester United v Villarreal 29 September 2021 21:00

• The five meetings in European competition between Manchester United and Villarreal have all ended in draws, with four of them goalless, except for last season's UEFA Europa League final (1-1), which the Spaniards won 11-10 on penalties.
• The four UEFA Champions League clashes between Manchester United and Villarreal have all finished 0-0, making it the most played fixture in the history of the competition to see no goals scored.
• Manchester United are winless in their last seven games against Spanish teams in the UEFA Champions League (D3 L4), with their last such victory coming against Real Sociedad back in October 2013 (1-0).
• There have been 22 instances of a manager taking charge of 10+ games of a single English club in UEFA Champions League history – Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Manchester United is the only manager to lose more than 50% of his games in charge (64% - lost seven of 11 games).
• Villarreal are unbeaten in their last 16 major UEFA European games (W12 D4) across the Europa League and Champions League, the longest current run of any side. The only Spanish team to have a longer run of unbeaten games in UEFA European history is Espanyol between September 2006 and November 2019 (20 in a row).
• Manchester United lost on MD1 of this season’s UEFA Champions League against Young Boys – they have never lost their opening two matches of a major European campaign in their history.
• If he plays in this game, it will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s first UEFA Champions League game at Old Trafford for Manchester United since April 2009 (1-0 v Arsenal). The Portuguese was directly involved in 12 goals in his final 15 home games in his first spell for the Red Devils in the competition, netting seven goals and providing five assists.
• Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma came off the bench on MD1 against Atalanta to score his second UEFA Champions League goal in three appearances, netting previously in October 2018 for Club Brugge. He is the first Dutchman to score in two of his first three appearances since Theo Janssen in October 2010 – no Dutch player has ever scored in three of their first four appearances.
• Cristiano Ronaldo will break Iker Casillas’ record for UEFA Champions League appearances if he appears in this match, setting a new record of 178 games. However, Ronaldo has never scored against Villarreal in four previous appearances against them in the competition, only facing Lille and Benfica as often without finding the net (also four games against them).
• Villarreal’s Manu Trigueros scored in their 2-2 draw with Atalanta on MD1 on his UEFA Champions League debut – the only two Spaniards to score in their first two appearances in the competition are José Mari for AC Milan in October 2000 and Diego Costa for Atletico Madrid in November 2013.

Juventus v Chelsea 29 September 2021 21:00

• This will be the fifth meeting between Juventus and Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, with both teams recording one win each in the previous four (D2). Juventus won their most recent meeting in the competition, recording a 3-0 home victory in the group stage in 2012-13.
• Juventus have won 11 of their last 12 UEFA Champions League group stage matches, losing the other 0-2 against Barcelona in October 2020. They’ve kept seven clean sheets and their last three have all ended 3-0, against Dynamo Kyiv, Barcelona and Malmö FF.
• Since the start of last season, Chelsea have only conceded four goals in 14 UEFA Champions League matches (W10 D3 L1), keeping 10 clean sheets and never conceding more than once in a game. All 10 clean sheets have been kept by goalkeeper Édouard Mendy in 13 appearances, the second quickest a goalkeeper has ever reached 10 clean sheets, behind only Keylor Navas (11 games).
• Juventus have won seven European Cup/Champions League matches against the reigning champions, with only Real Madrid ever winning more in history (11). They have won four of their five home games against the holders, though lost most recently in April 2018 against Real Madrid, a 3-0 defeat.
• Chelsea have only lost three of their last 32 UEFA Champions League group stage matches (W20 D9), losing none of their last 12 at the group stage (W8 D4). Manager Thomas Tuchel has a 68%-win ratio in the group stage (P25 W17 D5 L3), the third highest of managers to manage 20+ games in the group stage behind Josef Heynckes (73%) and Pep Guardiola (71%).
• Juventus lost their last UEFA Champions League match against an English team, beaten at home by José Mourinho’s Manchester United during Massimiliano Allegri’s previous spell. Juventus haven’t lost consecutive matches against English opponents in this competition since a run of four games between October 2002 and April 2005, while they have never lost consecutive home matches against English sides.
• Chelsea have lost each of their last four away games against Italian opposition in the UEFA Champions League, with each defeat coming against a different side – Inter in 2009-10, Napoli in 2011-12, Juventus in 2012-13 and Roma in 2017-18.
• Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has kept a clean sheet in both of his home matches against Chelsea in all competitions, both with Arsenal in 2012 and 2013; though, in his other four games against the Blues he conceded 13 goals.
• Álvaro Morata – who scored 24 goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions – has scored three goals in four UEFA Champions League appearances against the reigning champions, netting twice against Real Madrid in 2014-15 and once against Liverpool in 2019-20. Only one player has scored against the holders in three different seasons: Didier Drogba in 2004-05 (vs FC Porto) and 2006-07 & 2011-12 (vs Barcelona).