Champions League preview: Inter Milan and Barcelona back in action
It’s not just Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in Champions League action this evening.
Six other matches across Europe are scheduled to be played tonight as the 2010/11 Champions League campaign gets underway.
Back in May, a brace from Diego Milito sealed Inter Milan their first European Cup for 45 years. Since that memorable night at the Bernabeu, José Mourinho has departed for Real Madrid, while Rafael Benitez has arrived at the San Siro from Liverpool.
The champions of Europe begin their defence of European club football’s most prestigious trophy with an away tie against Dutch champions FC Twente. Despite the loss of manager Steve McClaren, Twente have enjoyed a decent start to the season and currently sit third in the Eredivisie table. While Inter grabbed their first win of the new Serie A campaign against Udinese on Saturday.
The winners of the 2008/09 Champions League, Barcelona, will be desperate to get back to winning ways after their shock 2-0 league defeat against Hercules at the weekend. And it’s Panathinaikos who are braced for the Barça backlash this evening. The Greek champions face a daunting trip to the Nou Camp, but have the players to hurt the Catalan giants if Pep Guardiola’s men flatter to deceive again.
Meanwhile, Lyon and Schalke have both endured surprisingly poor starts to their respective domestic campaigns, but go head-to-head tonight at the Stade de Gerland. The Bundesliga side have won just one of their last nine matches in the Champions League, while Lyon aim to build on last season’s semi-final finish in this competition with another group stage victory.
The champions of Portugal also meet the champions of Israel this evening. Hapoel Tel Aviv travel to Lisbon to take on Benfica in Group B of the competition. As the group’s underdogs, Hapoel know how crucial an away win over the Portuguese side could be. But Benfica, who have won just one of their first four matches, are expected to take all three points at the Estádio da Luz.
Surprise champions of last season’s Turkish Super Lig, Bursaspor, will compete in their first-ever Champions League match this evening against Spanish giants Valencia in Group C. The Turkish side have continued from where they left off last season with four wins from their opening four matches, and face a post-David Villa and David Silva Valencia at Bursa Atatürk Stadium. Los Che have begun their new era brightly, though. A 1-0 win against Racing Santander on Saturday fired Valencia to second in the Primera Liga.
And finally, Copenhagen will host last season’s plucky Russians Rubin Kazan at Parken Stadium. Both clubs come into this tie as champions of their domestic leagues, and both will fancy their chances of finishing Group D as runners-up behind Barcelona. Rubin Kazan stunned Barça last season, beating them 2-1 at the Nou Camp, and will be keen to go one step further this year by qualifying for the knockout rounds.
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