League Phase of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) continues into its fourth gameweek to be played on 5th and 6th November, 2024.
Let’s take a look at the interesting encounters from Gameweek 4 –
The Clash between European Heavyweights
Fifteen-times winner, Real Madrid will be up against seven-times champions, AC Milan in Gameweek 4. Real Madrid showed their champion mentality, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund 5-2 while AC Milan beat Belgian opponents Club Brugge 3-1 at home.
Even though both teams have performed fairly well in the Champions League so far, the Galácticos must be hurting from the 4-0 defeat by Barcelona in the ElClásico and would like to make amends by beating AC Milan.
The Rossoneri on the other hand are having a topsy-turvy season in the Serie A, being placed in a lowly eighth position with 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses.
These are the games that football fans wait for in the Champions League. It would be really interesting to see how AC Milan counter Real Madrid’s attacking threat and create chances of their own.
Former Liverpool Player returns to Anfield as opposition manager
Xabi Alonso will return to his former club Liverpool as an opposition manager when Liverpool faces Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Anfield in gameweek 4.
It could be an emotional return for the former Spanish midfielder as he won the Champions League with Liverpool in the famous ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ in 2005 and spent five years of his prime at Merseyside before he left for Real Madrid.
Liverpool have been in great form under new manager Arne Slot and came away with a point against fellow contenders Arsenal while Bayer Leverkusen haven’t been able to replicate last season’s form currently lying third in the Bundesliga table and have drawn too many games for their liking.
This could be one of those fascinating tactical battles between the two coaches that football fans like to analyse as they both play possession-based football. It could be a tough away game for Alonso’s team as he would know better than others about the hostile environment of Champions League nights at Anfield for an opposition team.
A battle between fellow strugglers PSG and Atlético
Both Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético de Madrid have struggled in the Champions League so far. Both teams have lost two games out of three games in the league phase so far and that’s why this game becomes even more decisive for both teams.
PSG at home is a difficult team to beat and Luis Enrique’s men have the firepower upfront to blow away any team but their finishing has let them down more often while Diego Simeone’s charges known for their defensive prowess have leaked in goals at will and hence would look to improve their defensive issues if they want to get points off PSG in gameweek 4.
Can the Gunners fire away to a win in Milan?
Arsenal will have a challenging encounter against Inter at the iconic San Siro Stadium in Milan. The two sides have only played each other twice in the Champions League with both sides winning one game each.
Arsenal has injury issues with defender Gabriel limping off against Liverpool and Calafiori still injured as well. However, William Saliba returns to the side after serving his suspension in the PL game last weekend. On paper, there isn’t much to choose from either team as both are really strong teams but Inter under Inzaghi are a tough nut to crack.
Both teams have won two and drawn one game so far but both were far from convincing in their last game as Inter won through a late goal against Crvena Zvezda and Arsenal won a home game courtesy of an own goal by Shakhtar Donetsk.
It could be a cracking game of football with both teams boasting of attacking forwards and could be a statement win for either of them.
Other Key Encounters
LOSC Lille vs Juventus
Lille have surprised everyone by beating both the Madrid sides in the Champions League so far and hence Juventus might go to the French club cautiously aware about their attacking strength with striker Jonathan David the key man for Lille so far. Juventus did lose to Stuttgart in the last gameweek and hence would be looking to get back on track with a win.
VfB Stuttgart vs Atalanta BC
Stuttgart has been a team transformed under coach Sebastian Hoeneß in recent seasons and are certainly no pushovers as they proved by beating Juventus in Gameweek 3.
But Atalanta is also the defending Europa League Champion and can beat any club on their day. Managed by experienced coach Gian Piero Gasperini, the Italian outfit will look to dominate proceedings and get a win to improve their chances of qualifying for the knockouts.
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