Real Madrid and Manchester City could qualify for the Champions League round of 16 by maintaining their 100 per cent records on Tuesday.
Madrid travel to Shakhtar Donetsk sitting pretty at the top of Group F and the holders will be guaranteed to progress if they make it four wins out of four.
The same goes for free-scoring City, who have been victorious in all three Group G games and will be expected to get the better of Copenhagen at Parken.
Borussia Dortmund could also advance if they beat Sevilla again, while Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica meet in the battle of the top two in Group H.
Milan will look to exact revenge on Chelsea at San Siro, while Group E leaders Salzburg travel to Dinamo Zagreb.
Stats Perform preview the eight matches to be staged on Tuesday by picking out the standout Opta data.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid
After beating Madrid home and away in the Champions League in 2020-21, Shakhtar have lost three consecutive matches against the holders - the latest being a 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.
There have been 14 goals in the previous three matches between the two sides in Donetsk, Madrid scoring nine of those.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are on a five-game winning streak in the Champions League, a run that began with a 3-1 victory over City in the second leg of last season's semi-final. They last had a longer winning streak in the competition between April 2014 and February 2015 - a run of 10 straight victories.
Among teams to have featured in the Champions League in every season since 2018-19, Shakhtar have the lowest win percentage of any side in that period (18.5 per cent - 5/27).
Copenhagen v Manchester City
City hammered Copenhagen 5-0 last week. Their best combined record against an opponent in a single Champions League campaign is 9-0 versus Shakhtar in 2018-19.
Copenhagen have only lost one of their 13 home games in the group stage of the Champions League (W6 D6), that defeat coming against Real Madrid in December 2013.
English teams are winless in their last two visits to Denmark in the Champions League, with Liverpool drawing 1-1 with Midtjylland in December 2020 and Leicester City drawing 0-0 with Copenhagen in November 2016.
Erling Haaland has 28 goals in 22 Champions League appearances. His next strike in the competition will see him equal the goal tallies of David Trezeguet (58 games), Roy Makaay (61 games) and Patrick Kluivert (71 games).
Paris Saint-Germain v Benfica
PSG have hosted Benfica on three previous occasions in European competition, with the Ligue 1 champions beating them 2-1 in the UEFA Cup in 2007, 3-0 in the Champions League nine years ago and drawing 1-1 in the Europa League in 2011.
No Portuguese side has ever won away at PSG in European competition. They have suffered five defeats and drawn twice, with all three Champions League contests won by PSG.
PSG could equal their longest winning streak of six consecutive home victories in the competition. Their last run of six wins in a row in Europe's premier club competition ended in November 2014.
Benfica are unbeaten in four Champions League away games (W2 D2), their longest run without defeat on the road in the competition.
Milan v Chelsea
Milan are winless in five meetings against Chelsea in Europe (D3 L2) since winning the very first match between the two sides in the Fairs Cup in February 1966.
The Serie A champions only had four shots in a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week. Since Opta have had this data available for the Champions League, the Blues have only faced fewer in a game in the competition twice - versus Malmo in October 2021 (two) and Galatasaray in March 2014 (three).
The Rossoneri have lost four of the last five games when hosting an English team in the Champions League, with their only victory coming against Arsenal in February 2012 (4-0). The only previous time they hosted Chelsea in the competition was in a 1-1 draw in October 1999.
Milan's former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has initiated more sequences of play than any other player in the Champions League this season, with the centre-back regaining possession for his side 47 times in three games.
Other fixtures:
Borussia Dortmund v Sevilla
273 - Sevilla have gone 273 minutes without scoring away from home in the Champions League, having failed to net in their previous three matches.
4 - Only Haaland (5) has been directly involved in more goals than Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham in the Champions League this season (3 goals, 1 assist).
Maccabi Haifa v Juventus
3 - Maccabi have lost all three of their matches against Juventus - home and away in the group stage of the Champions League in 2009-10, and again last week in Turin.
5 - Juve have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past five matches in the Champions League. That is their longest run without a clean sheet since a run of eight games between April and December in 2013.
Celtic v RB Leipzig
6 - Celtic have lost six consecutive home games in the Champions League. If they lose this match, they would equal the longest run of home defeats by a team in the competition, previously set by Monaco between May 2017 and December 2018.
9 - Christopher Nkunku scored his ninth Champions League goal for Leipzig against Celtic last week, equalling Emil Forsberg's tally for the most goals for the club in the competition. Since the start of last season, only four players have more Champions League group-stage goals than him (8).
Dinamo Zagreb v Salzburg
3 - Dinamo have lost all three of their major European matches against Salzburg, losing twice in the 2014-15 Europa League and 1-0 to the Group E leaders last week.
23 - Salzburg's starting XI has had an average aged of 23 years and 36 days in the Champions League this season, the youngest of any side. The average of 22 years and 336 days in their 1-0 win over Dinamo was the third-youngest by a winning team in a Champions League match; the two younger were in 2004-05 in the reverse fixtures between Ajax (22y 300d) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (22y 213d).
Manchester City welcome back Kyle Walker for Real Madrid clash
Kyle Walker is set to return as holders Manchester City bid to reach the Champions League semi-finals for a fourth successive year against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The England right-back has missed the treble-winners’ last five matches after suffering a hamstring injury on international duty last month.
Walker played a full part in City’s final training session before they host Spanish giants Real in the second leg of their quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium, which will begin with the aggregate score 3-3.
Manager Pep Guardiola said: “He’s been training good. I don’t know if from the beginning or from the bench, but I think he will be with us tomorrow.
“It is incredibly good news for many reasons. You know the physicality is massively important and in football it is how you challenge your opponent. Everyone knows the quality Kyle has.”
Walker did not travel to Spain for last week’s pulsating first-leg draw at the Bernabeu Stadium but was an unused substitute for the 5-1 thrashing of Luton on Saturday.
Team-mate Bernardo Silva has welcomed the potential return of the City skipper.
The midfielder said: “He is very important because we know Kyle has controlled some of the best players in the world and always does a phenomenal job when he plays.
“He’s our captain and he’s a player who, in the last few years, has played against players like Vinicius, (Kylian) Mbappe and Neymar and has defended against them like nobody else.”
Jude Bellingham: Joining Real Madrid last summer was ‘no-brainer’
Jude Bellingham admitted joining Real Madrid last summer was a “no-brainer”.
The England midfielder opted for the Spanish giants amid interest from a host of Europe’s top clubs after three highly-impressive seasons with Borussia Dortmund.
The 20-year-old Birmingham academy product has hardly looked back since, netting 20 times in an outstanding debut campaign at the Bernabeu Stadium that has catapulted him into the game’s elite.
Bellingham, speaking at a press conference ahead of Real’s Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday, said: “I had good chats with loads of clubs – including Dortmund – and my family were great in helping me chew up that information.
“It’s difficult while you are still in the season to take in the information and process it and still have to play at the weekend or in the Champions League.
“I had conversations with other teams but when Madrid came in it was a no-brainer really. The size of the club, the project, the plan going forward, the chance to play with such amazing players.
“I just jumped at it. That’s why I made my decision.”
Bellingham has no doubt his game has developed considerably since joining Real and he puts a lot of that down to the influence of veteran manager Carlo Ancelotti.
He said: “I think the sign of a good manager is when he can make you believe that you’re a bit better than maybe you thought you were before.
“I think he fills me with that confidence every day, in training and in the game. Not only that, but he’s a top person. He makes you feel comfortable.”
Real are locked in a ferocious battle with holders City to advance to the semi-finals after an enthralling 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu last week.
City are now regarded as the favourites due to their home advantage – and the fact they thrashed Real 4-0 at the same venue last season – but Bellingham is taking no notice of predictions.
He said: “That’s just the impression from the outside, the feeling from everyone else.
“I’m not a gambler and I’ve never been to the bookies, so I don’t know about betting favourites and things like that.
“But I do know that we’re a pretty good team ourselves. They’re the treble winners, they’re an amazing team but we’ve got some brilliant players.
“There’s external noise, but internally, we’re confident.”
Old Trafford regeneration task force meet for first time
Manchester United’s regeneration task force charged with exploring the redevelopment of Old Trafford has met for the first time.
Lord Coe, chair of a group that also includes Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and former United captain Gary Neville, oversaw the meeting that took place on Monday.
United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is looking to build a world-class stadium by either redeveloping Old Trafford or constructing a new ground on adjacent land owned by the Premier League club.
“Yesterday, I chaired the first meeting of the Old Trafford regeneration task force to kick off a conversation about how development of a world-class football stadium for the north of England can deliver social and economic benefits for the region,” London 2012 chief Coe said on X.
“At the London 2012 Olympics, I saw first-hand how sport can be a powerful driver of urban regeneration and I am excited to be part of this project.
“This meeting marked the start of a multi-stakeholder process to explore options for the stadium and surrounding area. We are at the start of this journey, and it is too soon to know where it will lead.
“But we will consult closely with fans and local residents along the way, and keep everyone informed of progress.”
Ratcliffe has described the plans to build a new ground and regenerate the Old Trafford area as a “once-in-a-century opportunity”.
With redevelopment of the existing site costing in the region of £1billion and building a new stadium altogether requiring a £2billion outlay, the task force will also examine options for financing the project.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
