3 months ago
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Who: Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain
What: League phase, UEFA Champions League
Where: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, successful Barcelona, Spain
When: Wednesday, October 1, astatine 9pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll person each the build-up connected Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT successful beforehand of our unrecorded substance commentary stream.
Two of Europe’s ace teams volition clash successful the opening limb of a Matchday 2 UEFA Champions League (UCL) fixture erstwhile defending rubric holders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) question to the Olympic Stadium to play five-time winners Barcelona connected Wednesday.
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Both sides person begun the caller play strong: PSG started their rubric defence with a ascendant 4-0 triumph implicit Italian broadside Atalanta, portion Barca outclassed Newcastle United 2-1 successful their opening league signifier fixture.
Here is each to cognize earlier the biggest lucifer to day successful the 2025-26 Champions League:
Barcelona’s caller form
The Catalan broadside secured a 2-1 comeback triumph implicit Real Sociedad connected Sunday that sent them apical of the La Liga standings aft they turned the lucifer astir with goals from Jules Kounde and Robert Lewandowski connected either broadside of halftime.
Barcelona’s sixth triumph successful 7 matches moved the reigning champions to 19 points – 1 constituent supra archrivals Real Madrid.
“It was a squad victory. They knew however to play and it was hard work, but we deserved it,” said Barcelona manager Hansi Flick.
Barcelona besides finished the 2024-25 play undefeated astatine location successful Champions League fixtures.
PSG’s caller form
PSG are level with Lyon connected 15 points astatine the apical of Ligue 1 successful France.
Their lone decision this play was a 1-0 nonaccomplishment to Marseille connected September 22, with Nayef Aguerd’s aboriginal header proving decisive successful his side’s archetypal location league triumph implicit PSG since 2011.
PSG’s early-season wounded woes
The commencement of PSG’s caller European run has been hampered by injuries, headlined by superstar striker – and 2025 Ballon d’Or winner – Ousmane Dembele, who is retired until mid-October with a close hamstring strain.
Supremely talented attacking subordinate Desire Doue is besides sidelined until astatine slightest aboriginal October with a close calf strain, arsenic is chap winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was injured past play successful their 2-0 triumph implicit Auxerre, further decimating the PSG beforehand line.
What happened the past clip Barcelona played PSG?
The sides past met connected April 16, 2024, erstwhile PSG produced a stunning comeback to bushed Barcelona 4-1 distant successful the 2nd limb of their Champions League quarterfinal, sealing a spot successful the past 4 of the 2023-24 tourney with a 6-4 aggregate victory.
Raphinha gave Barcelona the pb successful the deciding match, but they had Ronald Araujo sent disconnected earlier goals by Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and a Kylian Mbappe brace – successful 1 of the Frenchman’s past appearances for the nine – took PSG done to a semifinal against Borussia Dortmund.
PSG’s Ousmane Dembele, left, attempts a changeable astatine extremity against Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen during the archetypal limb of their 2023-24 Champions League quarterfinal lucifer astatine the Parc des Princes Stadium successful Paris, Wednesday, April 10, 2024 [Lewis Joly/AP]How galore titles did PSG triumph successful the 2024-25 season?
The Paris nine won 4 large trophies to cement the astir palmy play successful the team’s 55-year history: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Trophee des Champions and the UEFA Champions League.
They besides finished runner-up to Chelsea successful the FIFA Club World Cup successful June.
Barcelona squad news
Raphinha is the biggest sanction missing from Flick’s location side; the Brazilian winger is retired of the PSG lucifer with a hamstring injury.
Also retired are Joan Garcia (knee), Gavi (knee), Fermin Lopez (back) and first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back).
Wojciech Szczesny volition basal successful for ter Stegen successful the starting XI, with Gerald Martin the astir apt campaigner to capable successful for Garcia successful the backmost line.
In a immense bonus for the Catalan side, prima winger Lamine Yamal is expected to instrumentality to the starting XI for the archetypal clip since being sidelined for 4 matches with a groin injury. He came connected arsenic a substitute successful the team’s triumph implicit Real Sociedad connected Sunday.
PSG squad news
Coach Luis Enrique volition person small successful the mode of violative options, with talisman guardant Dembele and helping scoring menace Doue connected the sidelines with wounded since aboriginal September.
With Kvaratskhelia besides incapable to play, the scoring load volition displacement onto French planetary Bradley Barcola, who volition pb the enactment against Barca.
Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos volition besides miss the lucifer with a near thigh issue.
In immoderate bully quality for Enrique, helium was capable to denote connected Tuesday that antecedently injured Portugal midfielders Vitinha, who was 3rd successful the Ballon d’Or earlier this month, and Joao Neves made the squad.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, centre, returned to the transportation for the archetypal clip successful a period and was integral to his side’s 2-1 comeback triumph implicit Real Sociedad connected Sunday [File: Alex Caparros/Getty Images]Barcelona’s predicted starting lineup
Szczesny (goalkeeper); Kounde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Martin; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Rashford; Lewandowski
PSG predicted starting lineup
Chevalier (goalkeeper); Hakimi, Zabarnyi, Pacho, Mendes; Lee, Vitinha, Zaire-Emery; Mbaye, Ramos, Barcola
Head-to-head:
- Total matches – 13
- Barcelona wins – 5
- PSG wins – 4
- Draws – 4
Last 5 matches:
- Barcelona: W-W-W-W-W (All competitions, astir caller effect last)
- PSG: W-W-W-L-W
What the coaches had to say:
Enrique (PSG): “Watching a crippled betwixt Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain with 5 oregon six important players [from some teams] not playing … to maine it’s a shame, for the manager, [Hans] Flick, and for fans of some teams,” Enrique said.
Flick (Barcelona): “I deliberation [the magnitude of injuries] is not mean for us, but immoderate injuries conscionable hap … We are having a look to spot what we tin bash better; we volition analyse everything and each grooming and we’ll spot what [will] hap and if we person to adapt.”
What is the league signifier of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League?
Now entering its 2nd season, the expanded league signifier features 36 teams each placed successful a azygous big-league table. It replaced the aged radical phase, which had clubs drawn into smaller cohorts.
In the league phase, each squad plays 8 matches against opponents from different nations to find the wide league standings.
The 24 highest-ranked teams proceed to the knockout signifier of the tourney aft Matchday 8: The apical 8 clubs proceed straight to the circular of 16; and the clubs ranked betwixt ninth and 24th participate a two-legged playoff to scope the knockout phase. The bottommost 12 clubs are eliminated from the tournament.
2025-26 UEFA Champions League: When are the league-phase matches?
- Matchday 1: September 16-18, 2025
- Matchday 2: September 30-October 1, 2025
- Matchday 3: October 21-22, 2025
- Matchday 4: November 4-5, 2025
- Matchday 5: November 25-26, 2025
- Matchday 6: December 9-10, 2025
- Matchday 7: January 20-21, 2026
- Matchday 8: January 28, 2026
Where is the 2025-26 Champions League last being held?
The UEFA Champions League last volition instrumentality spot astatine the Puskas Arena successful Budapest, Hungary connected May 30.
Close-up of UEFA Champions League trophy [File: Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
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