Barcelona head to Bayern Munich on the final matchday desperately needing a positive result to secure their spot in the Champions League knockout stages.
Benfica, who face Dynamo Kiev in Group E's other clash, hold the head-to-head edge over Xavi's new side as Barca travel to Germany knowing they likely need a win to make it through to the next round.
Manchester United and Chelsea are already through their respective groups, while Juventus host Malmo with the Bianconeri's place in the last-16 sealed before the final matchday as well.
As Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo edge towards more records, Stats Perform takes a look at the key Opta data heading into the games taking place on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich v Barcelona: Blaugrana face thankless task to qualify
Bayern have won their last three Champions League meetings with Barca, which is already the longest run against the Blaugrana in European history by any side.
Julian Nagelsmann's team, who have averaged five goals per home game in this season's competition, have cruised through to the next round, while Barca could fall to their second-worst performance in terms of points if they fail to avoid defeat.
The visitors will have to deal with Lewandowski, who is the top scorer in the group stage with nine goals and the Poland forward could become the only player in history to net 10-plus times in the group stage on multiple occasions. Ronaldo (11 in 2015-16) and Lionel Messi (10 in 2016-17) are the only other players to have achieved this once.
Zenit v Chelsea: Blues edge towards more defensive milestones
Chelsea could become just the second English team, after Manchester United in 2003-04 and 2010-11 to win four consecutive games in the competition while keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.
Indeed, with a clean sheet the Blues and Thomas Tuchel could become the fastest team and manager combination to reach 10 shutouts in the competition, having already recorded nine in just 12 games since the German's appointment.
The defending champions have also had 14 different scorers, excluding own goals, the most of any team in the Champions League since Tuchel's Blues bow in Europe.
Manchester United v Young Boys: Ronaldo looks to repeat history
Ronaldo has scored in all five of his Champions League appearances since returning to United (six goals), while Bruno Fernandes boasts the most assists in the competition so far this term (five).
Portugal captain Ronaldo will be looking to repeat the feat of scoring in all six group stage games in a single campaign, having previously done so for Real Madrid in 2017-18 – the only previous instance of this in the competition’s history.
Worryingly for Young Boys, who never kept a clean sheet in 11 attempts in the competition, the Swiss side have lost their last six away games between 1986 and 2021, last tasting European Cup/Champions League victory in August 1960.
Juventus v Malmo: Bianconeri aim to match record home dominance
Juve have won each of their last five Champions League home matches, only registering more consecutive such victories in a run of six between December 2016 and 2017.
While the Bianconeri did suffer their heaviest defeat in the history of the competition against Chelsea, Juve have a perfect record against Malmo in their opening three games – only Barca have ever won their opening four games against a specific opponent in the competitions.
Meanwhile, Malmo have only managed one win in their last eight against Italian opponents in the European Cup/Champions League, with their lone triumph against Inter in September 1989.
Other fixtures:
Atalanta v Villarreal:
21 - There have been 21 goals scored in Atalanta’s five games against Spanish opponents in the Champions League (11 goals for, 10 against), at an average of 4.2 per game. Only one of these five games have seen a team manage to keep a clean sheet, with Real Madrid doing so in a 1-0 victory back in February.
1 - Villarreal have won just one of their eight visits to Italian opponents in major European competition (D3 L4), though it came in their most recent such outing, defeating Roma 1-0 in the Europa League in 2016-17.
Benfica v Dynamo Kiev:
4 - Since losing their first ever meeting with Dynamo Kiev in European competition (0-1 in November 1991), Benfica are unbeaten in four games against the Ukrainian side (W3 D1), with all four coming in the European Cup/Champions League.
60 – Dynamo Kiev have lost 60 per cent of their away matches in the competition, only Olympiakos (75) and Galatasaray (71) have lost a larger percentage out of teams to have played at least 50 such games.
Red Bull Salzburg v Sevilla:
5 – Red Bull Salzburg are winless in their last five fixtures against Spanish opposition in the Champions League and have only won one of their last 11 meetings against such sides.
3 – Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic has managed three goal involvements in his side's five goals in the competition, despite only starting two games – only for Barca in 2015-16 did he record more (four).
Wolfsburg v Lille:
5 - Wolfsburg have gone unbeaten in their last five games against French opponents in European competition (W2 D3) after previously going eight games without recording a victory against French teams across all competitions (D3 L5).
8 – Lille have claimed eight points from their opening five games and could equal, or improve on, their best ever return in a group stage in the competition - nine points in 2006-07, where they qualified with a second-place finish.
Steven Davis vows to ‘give his all’ after being put in interim charge of Rangers
Steven Davis is determined to make the most of his chance in the Rangers hotseat as he admitted it came sooner than expected.
The 38-year-old Northern Ireland international, who had two successful spells as a player at Ibrox, was asked by the Gers board on Sunday evening to take the reins until they appoint a new permanent boss following the departure of Michael Beale.
The former Gers midfielder, who had been returning to fitness at the Ibrox club after a serious knee injury despite his contract expiring in the summer, will be assisted by fellow former Rangers players Alex Rae and Steven Smith, as well as coach Brian Gilmour and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart.
Speaking in Cyprus ahead of the Europa League clash with Aris Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday night, Davis spoke about a “whirlwind” few days while addressing his future.
“Obviously it came out of the blue,” said Davis, who revealed Nicolas Raskin and Kemar Roofe have returned from injury.
“Sunday evening, I was just at home. It wasn’t a call that I was expecting.
“Things moved very fast and I came in on Monday morning and I started to work.
“It was James Bisgrove (chief executive) and Craig Robertson (board member) that I received the phonecall from.
“Obviously it was a bit of a whirlwind after that. I went off the phone and I had a few conversations but my decision was made very quickly.
“I was honoured by the fact the board had that conversation and my name came up and they put their trust in me to try and do this job.
“I’m going to give it my all to try and be successful.
“Listen, there’s not been any conversation in terms of a time frame. I all happened very quickly.
“I was asked to come in and take the game tonight. How things play out after that I’m not too sure.
“Regarding my feelings around it, I’ve obviously got ambitions. I did not quite expect it to happen quite as soon.
“I’m just determined really to make the most of the opportunity I’ve been given and we will see what develops from there.
“I’ve got the experience of Alex Rae in beside me and Colin Stewart and Steven Smith and Brian.
“I’ve had a lot of messages from managers I’ve worked under. Unfortunately I’ve not had a chance to respond because it’s been quite intense preparing for this game.
“I appreciate the support I’ve been given but I haven’t had the chance to reach out to anyone or felt the need to just yet.”
Beale departed the club following the 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Ibrox which left the Light Blues seven points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic, albeit they beat Real Betis 1-0 in their first Europa League fixture.
Davis insists it is time for everyone at the club to “step up”.
He said: “‘Listen, there’s a lot of character within the dressing room. There’s a lot of leaders in there as well.
“Everyone knows it’s time to step up. The great thing about football is you get another opportunity to turn things around.
“It’s not a position we want to be in. Everybody is hurting from it.
“The main focus is first and foremost getting a result on Thursday and building on it from there.
“We won our opening group game. We are in a strong position and we want to build on that
“I think for us we just want to give the boys the freedom to go out and play to their strengths really.”
How does Manchester United’s current struggle compare to previous poor starts?
Manchester United have endured their worst start to a season since 1986, following Tuesday night’s Champions League defeat at home to Galatasaray.
United have lost six of their opening 10 games in all competitions, a tally not seen since the latter stages of Ron Atkinson’s managerial reign.
Here, the PA news agency compares their current struggles with previous poor starts.
37-year low
Erik ten Hag’s side were booed off the pitch on Tuesday after another disappointing performance at Old Trafford.
The 3-2 loss to Galatasaray was United’s second in successive Champions League matches – following a 4-3 reverse against Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich – to go with four Premier League defeats.
The Red Devils succumbed 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, compounding previous losses against Brighton, Arsenal and Tottenham.
A 3-0 win over Palace in the Carabao Cup last week was by far their most convincing of the season, with narrow Premier League victories against Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Wolves doing little to silence the doubters.
United’s total of six defeats in 10 games is their highest since the 1986-87 season – the year that Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of the club.
Under Ferguson’s predecessor Atkinson, United lost six of their first eight Premier League games, with a 5-1 win over Southampton in mid-September providing only temporary respite.
Atkinson was sacked in early November with United in the bottom four of the First Division.
No defence
United’s main issues under Ten Hag appear to be in defence, with the Dutchman having watched his side concede 18 goals already this term.
They have shipped at least three goals on four separate occasions – at home to Galatasaray and Brighton and away to Bayern and Arsenal.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana is yet to prove himself to be a significant upgrade on David de Gea, while a back four shorn of key injury absentees such as Lisandro Martinez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw looked all at sea against Wilfried Zaha and co on Tuesday.
Their total number of goals conceded is higher than the 13 shipped in the first 10 games in 1986-87, and surpasses anything seen in the Ferguson era or subsequently.
United also struggled defensively at the start of 2022-23, conceding 17 goals in the first 10 games – a tally matched only by Louis van Gaal’s first season (2014-15) and one of Ferguson’s early campaigns at the club (1989-90).
However, Ten Hag oversaw a significant improvement in the remainder of last season, with United going on to keep a Premier League-leading 17 clean sheets across the whole campaign.
UK and Ireland bid for Euro 2028 to be unopposed after Turkey withdraw interest
The UK and Ireland will host Euro 2028, subject to final approval from UEFA’s executive committee next week, after Turkey withdrew its interest.
The five-nation bid is now the only option on the table for the finals in five years’ time after Turkey pulled out of contention for the 2028 finals to focus on a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.
UEFA will formally announce the hosts for the two tournaments following a meeting of its executive committee in Switzerland next week.
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
