Champions League Preview: Can Liverpool Return to Glory? Manchester United Need to Avoid a Psychological Dip

As the opening round of the Champions League group stage kicked off, six matches have already finished, with 12 more still to come. Since the Champions League operates separately from other cup competitions this week, matches will be played across three days. From the second round onward, the schedule will return to the usual format of completing each round within two days.

On the opening day, Premier League teams showed strong performances, with Manchester City comfortably defeating Porto and Aston Villa also beating Club Brugge to both secure opening wins. Next, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United will all make their Champions League debuts.

Late Wednesday night Beijing time, Arsenal will travel to face Napoli. The two sides met in the Europa League quarter-finals six years ago, when Arsenal won both legs but eventually lost to Chelsea in the final, which was the only Europa League title Unai Emery missed during his tenure. Fans may also remember the Champions League group stage 13 years ago, when Napoli, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund all finished on 12 points, but Napoli were eliminated, becoming one of the highest-scoring teams ever to exit the group stage.

Today, Arsenal have grown significantly stronger, with an increasingly complete squad. Havertz, Odegaard, and Saka have combined to score all of the team's league goals. This season, last season's top scorer Gyokeres did not make his debut until the third round, while even Merino, who impressed at the World Cup, has been unable to secure a starting place. Arteta finally has a strong team, with the Premier League already secured, and the next target is undoubtedly the Champions League.

Also late Wednesday night, Liverpool will host Atletico Madrid. The matchup carries plenty of drama. In the opening round of last season's Champions League, the two teams met again, with Liverpool also playing at home and quickly taking a two-goal lead. However, despite Atletico equalizing late in the match, Van Dijk's stoppage-time goal ultimately gave Liverpool a 3-2 victory. Notably, Liverpool have won all four of their recent meetings, giving them a psychological advantage.

Currently, Liverpool's Premier League record stands at one win and two draws, while Atletico have two wins, one draw, and one defeat. Both teams sit sixth in the table, which is not particularly impressive. New head coach Iraola has kept Atletico unbeaten despite several draws, reminding people of Bournemouth's performance last season, when they drew 18 of their 38 league matches. Liverpool certainly do not want to repeat that kind of situation.

Late Thursday night, Manchester United will host Qarabag. This is also a unique scheduling arrangement for this Champions League phase and will not happen again after the opening round. Qarabag are one of the four newcomers participating in the Champions League. After going through three qualifying rounds and one playoff round, they successfully reached the league phase, an achievement in itself. For Manchester United, this marks their return to the Champions League after two years, and both teams are experiencing the new format for the first time.

Among Manchester United's opponents in this round, apart from Qarabag, the others are difficult challenges, including two teams each from La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga, as well as Sporting CP, the former club of Fernandes. Therefore, taking the opportunity to secure three points against a relatively weaker opponent in the first round becomes especially important. If they fail to beat this opponent, the pressure ahead will only increase.

It is worth noting that Manchester United will face Manchester City this Sunday, while City have two more days of rest in the Champions League schedule than United. This will undoubtedly create a rotation challenge for Carrick, meaning United's focus may not be completely on the Champions League and they may have to make choices.

UEFA's official website has predicted the starting lineups for the three teams. Although some players are unavailable due to injuries, the selections are still largely based on first-choice players. Whether everyone agrees with these predictions remains to be seen.

Since the new format was introduced over the past two seasons, Premier League teams have performed impressively in the league phase. Last season, five of the six participating teams reached the top eight, while lowest-ranked Newcastle missed out on the top eight by only two points after drawing with Paris Saint-Germain on the final matchday. In the previous season, three of the four participating teams reached the quarter-finals, with only Manchester City narrowly advancing after a late run of consecutive defeats, relying on goal difference.

Therefore, expectations for this season's Champions League are high. Especially after seeing Manchester City and Villa claim three points, it will be exciting to see whether the remaining three Premier League teams can also achieve victories at the same time.