There was no shortage of thrills and spills on matchday one of the Champions League, and Wednesday's action promises more of the same as one of the world's most in-form strikers faces his former club.

Erling Haaland has made a spectacular start to his Manchester City career, hitting 12 goals in all competitions since his move from Borussia Dortmund, but how will he fare when his old team visit the Etihad Stadium? 

Elsewhere, Graham Potter will hope to have an immediate impact in his first game as Chelsea's head coach as they bid to bounce back from last week's 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, are among the favourites to be crowned European champions, and will both be hopeful of making it two wins from two outings.

Ahead of another intriguing set of European ties, Stats Perform trawls through the Opta data to highlight the most noteworthy facts for each game.

Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund

City striker Haaland netted 15 times in 13 Champions League appearances for Dortmund, and few would bet against the Norwegian haunting his former team on Wednesday.

Haaland helped himself to a brace at Sevilla last time out, bringing him to 25 Champions League goals in just 20 appearances – the highest tally managed by any player in their first 20 games in Europe's premier club competition. 

The visit of BVB will represent a landmark outing for City boss Pep Guardiola, taking him to 150 Champions League games. Only five other coaches have reached that tally, while only two have earned more victories than Guardiola's 94 – Alex Ferguson (102) and Carlo Ancelotti (99).

The omens are certainly good for the Premier League champions, who are unbeaten in their last 20 Champions League home games, winning 18 and drawing two. That represents the longest such sequence by an English side since Chelsea's run of 21 without defeat between September 2006 and December 2009.

Dortmund, meanwhile, have not won at an English side in the competition since beating Arsenal 2-1 in October 2013.

Chelsea v Salzburg

Defeat to Dinamo Zagreb spelled the end of Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea reign last week, and Potter is the man entrusted to ensure they avoid back-to-back continental defeats when Salzburg visit.

Chelsea have never previously lost their opening two games of a Champions League campaign, and last lost consecutive games in the competition in 2019-20, when they were beaten by Bayern Munich in both legs of a last-16 tie.

This will be the first meeting between Chelsea and Salzburg, with the Blues only losing one of their previous four European ties against Austrian teams (W1 D2). Salzburg, meanwhile, have never beaten an English side in European competition in six attempts (D1 L5).

But the Blues will have to be wary of Matthias Jaissle's young guns at Stamford Bridge, and may need to keep a particularly close eye on Noah Okafor. 

The 22-year-old has four goals in his last five Champions League outings for Salzburg – only Haaland (eight) has ever scored more for the club in the competition.

Real Madrid v RB Leipzig

Holders Madrid are looking to secure consecutive wins when they host RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabeu, and are unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League games against German opponents, scoring at least two goals in all of those matches (27 in total).

Leipzig, however, are unbeaten in their three European clashes with Spanish sides (W2 D1) and will be looking for a result comparable to their 2-1 quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid in 2019-20.

Los Blancos possess a remarkable amount of experience at the highest level; should Luka Modric feature, he will become the first 37-year-old outfield player to play a European Cup/Champions League game for Madrid since Ferenc Puskas in November 1965 against Kilmarnock.

Coach Ancelotti, meanwhile, is on the brink of his 100th win in the Champions League, and could become just the second boss to bring up such a century in the competition (after Alex Ferguson with 102).

Maccabi Haifa v Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe scored a terrific brace to get PSG's European campaign off to a flying start against Juventus, and a trip to Maccabi Haifa gives him the opportunity to make club history.

The striker has scored 29 goals in 45 Champions League outings with PSG, scoring against 14 of the 17 opponents he's faced with the French champions. One more goal will see him level Edinson Cavani's record of 30 goals in the competition for the Ligue 1 side.

He could be aided by the in-form Neymar, who has provided eight assists for Mbappe in the Champions League, more than any player has assisted another in the competition since the start of 2017-18.

The final member of their revered forward trio, Lionel Messi, also has his eyes on making history.

Messi has scored against 38 different teams in the Champions League, the same amount as his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, and will be keen to claim the record outright when he faces Maccabi for the first time on Wednesday.

Other fixtures:

Rangers v Napoli

1 – Wednesday's rearranged match will be the first competitive meeting between Rangers and Napoli. The Serie A side have only faced a Scottish team in European competition once before, exiting to Hibernian in the Fairs Cup in November 1967.

3 – Piotr Zielinski was directly involved in three of Napoli's four goals as they thrashed Liverpool last week (two goals, one assist). This is already his best campaign for goal contributions in the competition since joining Napoli.  

Milan vs Dinamo Zagreb

6 - Milan have failed to win any of their last six home games in the Champions League (D3 L3), their longest run without a home victory in the competition.

31.8 – Dinamo Zagreb had just 31.8 per cent possession against Chelsea on matchday one, the lowest of any team who managed to avoid defeat in their opening game.

Shakhtar Donetsk v Celtic

3 – Shakhtar's Mykhailo Mudryk was one of three players to be directly involved in three goals on matchday one (one goal, two assists), along with Robert Lewandowski and Zielinski.

1/13 - Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart has only kept one clean sheet in his last 13 away Champions League games, with his last coming at Roma in December 2014 (for Manchester City).

Copenhagen v Sevilla

8 - Spanish sides are unbeaten in all eight of their Champions League games against Danish clubs (W6 D2) – only against sides from the Czech Republic (13) have Spanish teams appeared more often without defeat.

3/4 - Sevilla have lost three of their last four Champions League group-stage games (W1), as many as they lost in their previous 22 such matches (W10 D9).

Juventus v Benfica

2 - Juventus have lost their last two Champions League games. Only once in the history of the European Cup/Champions League have they lost three in a row, doing so between May 1968 and September 1972.

4 – Benfica's Alejandro Grimaldo has been involved in four goals in his last four Champions League games (one goal, three assists), more than he was in his first 27 games in the competition (two goals, one assist).

Karim Benzema is progressing well in his recovery but the Real Madrid striker will only play in Saturday's derby with Atletico Madrid if there is no risk of injury.

Benzema missed Madrid's 4-1 win over Real Mallorca last weekend because of a knee injury.

It will also keep him out of Wednesday's Champions League clash with RB Leipzig, with the fixture against city rivals Atletico seen as a potential return date.

But head coach Carlo Ancelotti is unwilling to take any chances with his star striker.

He said ahead of the Leipzig clash: "He [Benzema] is progressing well, there are options. But he will only play if there is no risk of injury."

The win over Mallorca featured a clash between Vinicius Junior and visiting coach Javier Aguirre and a furious response from Marco Asensio after Ancelotti elected not to send the midfielder on from the bench.

Asked about the latter incident, Ancelotti replied: "[Asensio] cannot be considered a young man or a veteran. He is doing well and since his anger, he is training very well.

"It is what has to happen when someone gets angry, because you can train better or lower your arms. And he has opted for the first one. He has options to win tomorrow."

On Vinicius, he added: "He's fine, lively, in a good dynamic. Fully recovered from the Mallorca game. We don't talk about this, it's not something we need to talk about."

While Madrid coasted to victory over Celtic in their opening Group F game, Leipzig started their Champions League campaign with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ancelotti, though, is wary of the threat posed by Leipzig, referencing their 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday as evidence of their quality.

"It's an important game, against a team that had problems at the beginning of the season, but a great game came together against Dortmund," said Ancelotti.

"They have quality, especially up front, technical and fast. We'll have to play a good game to try to win.

"Leipzig's attack is very dangerous, with Werner, Nkunku, Szobozslai, Forsberg - we're talking about a very dangerous team if you give them the chance to show their quality.

"I think the defensive aspect will be as important as the offensive."

Xabi Alonso has described Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as "special", and praised the "treasure" created by the German coach on Merseyside.

Liverpool have made a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign, winning just two of their six Premier League games so far (D3, L1) before suffering a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Napoli in their opening Champions League group stage game last week in Italy.

The former Borussia Dortmund head coach has presided over a period of success at Anfield since arriving in 2015, though, winning the Champions League, Premier League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, EFL Cup and FA Cup.

Alonso – who played for the Reds from 2004 to 2009 – said he always felt Klopp would be a success at Liverpool, stating in an interview with the club's website: "I loved my games against his Dortmund when I was in [Real] Madrid and Bayern [Munich]. You could see that he was special.

"I remember when he signed for Liverpool, straight away I had the feeling that he was the man. We were playing Liverpool-Mainz at Mainz [pre-season friendly in 2006] and in the programme he mentioned that his favourite stadium was Anfield. That was on my mind.

"When he signed for Liverpool, I [thought], 'He's always had that in his mind and he's the right man for the job.' After that, what he's done, it's a treasure what we have in Liverpool, what Jurgen built and the inspiration for the players, for the club, for the fans, for everyone."

After spells with Real Madrid and Bayern, Alonso retired from playing and moved into coaching, starting with a role with Madrid's youth setup, before becoming head coach of the B team at another former club, Real Sociedad.

He stepped down from the role at the end of last season, and is preparing himself for the "next thing".

"I want to visit, to keep learning and to keep being updated about the things that are being done," he said. 

"Use the time, not just to sit on the chair and do nothing. No, no, I want to use this time for myself to prepare better for the next thing. I don't know but I will have to choose what's best for me.

"[Coaching is] demanding but very rewarding as well. It's another role but my role was to help young players at Sociedad's academy. They did really well, we [were] promoted to the second division in Spain – it was a great achievement.

"I have enjoyed it. You play games in another way. It takes longer, the preparation, but you feel really into the game. 

"As Johan Cruyff said, the best thing about football is playing football, and the second one is coaching football."

The former Spain midfielder also spoke about compatriot and former Bayern team-mate Thiago Alcantara, who joined Liverpool in 2020.

Thiago could make only his second start of the season on Tuesday when Liverpool face Ajax in the Champions League, having recovered from a hamstring injury sustained in the opening day draw at Fulham last month.

"You could see that he's a different player," Alonso said. "He's a different talent because he's competitive but at the same time he has those magic Brazilian actions that are not that European.

"He's competitive but he can do different things. He was a great player at Bayern and he continues being consistent and being a great player at Liverpool.

"We talked a lot [in 2020, prior to his move] because he was thinking about the option.

"I said, 'Thiago, you love football, you're in a great club, you're in Bayern and you've achieved great things, but Liverpool is pure football and you're going to enjoy it as much as you have done. If you feel it's the right moment for a new chapter, you won't get better places than Liverpool'."

Neymar has roared back to form for Paris Saint-Germain after accepting he fell short of his high standards last season, according to coach Christophe Galtier.

The Brazil star has been PSG's outstanding forward, managing 10 goals and seven assists in eight starts and one substitute appearance so far.

He is close to matching last season's returns already, having scored a modest 13 times and assisted eight goals in 28 games during the 2021-22 campaign.

It has been a return to the Neymar of his prime Barcelona days, and PSG are enjoying the benefits.

"I think it would be disrespectful to think it is just down to me and my technical staff," Galtier said. "Neymar has an awareness of the fact that his performances were not as good last season.

"He has high targets. He came back fit at the start of pre-season. He worked very hard before that. My staff and I decided to play him in the best position to be an artist.

"When Neymar is in a good state mentally and physically, that is what he does and that is how he performs well. The key thing to understand is that, as the coach, he is a player who works extremely hard for the team both going forward and in terms of winning the ball back."

Galtier's team will play Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday in their second Champions League group game, having made a winning start last week against Juventus.

The teams have only met twice before in European competition, with both of those games coming in the Cup Winners' Cup first round in 1998-99. The side from Israel won 4-3 on aggregate but go into this rematch with few expecting them to get the better of star-studded opposition.

Maccabi Haifa have lost each of their last seven Champions League games, going down by an aggregate score of 10-0. Only one team in the history of the Champions League have lost eight in a row while failing to score each time, with Dinamo Zagreb doing so between November 2015 and December 2016.

For PSG, Kylian Mbappe has either scored or assisted in each of his last nine Champions League games (8 goals, 4 assists). He has found the net in each of his last five games, his longest scoring streak in the competition.

As well as Mbappe and Neymar, PSG can also call on Lionel Messi, who is set to face Israeli competition for the first time in the Champions League. A goal in this game would make Messi the outright leader for the most different sides scored against by one player in the Champions League. He is currently on 38, level with Cristiano Ronaldo.

PSG are back in Israel barely six weeks after playing the Trophee des Champions match in Tel Aviv, where they beat Nantes 4-0, with Messi and Neymar both among the goals.

"While we had the support of the Israeli fans for the Trophee des Champions, this time we will be playing in a stadium that will be behind its team," Galtier said.

"It will be a heated atmosphere. In terms of the Israeli league, I am convinced every team in Europe is hard to play against. Everyone tries to raise the bar, and Israeli football has significantly improved with coaches who are well travelled and can take what they have seen elsewhere and bring in foreign players that boost their teams."

PSG are without injured defender Presnel Kimpembe, and Galtier is deliberating over whether to persist with his 3-5-2 formation after losing such a key figure.

Missing out on prime target Milan Skriniar in the transfer window, when Inter held firm, is looking increasingly like a major blow for the French side.

"We wanted an extra centre-back because it's a crazy schedule now," Galtier said. "We were right about that. I understand that the president couldn't change the stance of Inter, and we are going to work with the squad that we have here.

"I have some versatile players, and we will see how it goes. Will we have to change the system? Possibly. We also have some very good young players who can slot in to the upcoming games. That is why it was important for us and for [football advisor] Luis Campos to get that centre-back, but unfortunately we did not manage to."

RB Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a ligament injury in Saturday's 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.

The 25-year-old Austrian came off late in the game, and it has been revealed by his club he suffered a blow to his left syndesmosis ligament, an injury often known as a high ankle sprain.

Laimer, who was linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich before the transfer window closed, faces "several weeks" out of action, Leipzig said.

The news comes as a blow to new Leipzig head coach Marco Rose, who was appointed last Thursday in the wake of Domenico Tedesco losing his job after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

The injury setback was confirmed on the eve of Leipzig's away game against Real Madrid in the Champions League, with Rose looking to keep the Bundesliga side in with a realistic shot of a top-two finish in Group F, which also contains Celtic.

It is not a reunion that any Bayern Munich fan will be relishing when Robert Lewandowski returns to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Just a few months ago they were cheering goal after goal the Poland striker was scoring for their team, something he had done with tremendous consistency ever since arriving from Borussia Dortmund.

Then came the news none of them will have wanted to hear, that Lewandowski wanted a new challenge.

After a surprising amount of unpleasantness between player and club during the transfer window, the 34-year-old got his wish and made the move to Barcelona for a reported fee of €50million.

With a sense of inevitability as the balls were opened by former Barca midfielder Yaya Toure during the draw for the group stage of the Champions League, who should Bayern be joined by in Group C along with Inter and Viktoria Plzen? Of course, Barcelona.

Ahead of Lewandowski lining up on the opposing side in Munich, Stats Perform has taken a look at what he achieved at Bayern, and how both parties have adapted in the early stages of the new campaign.

The man they called "Lewan-goal-ski" (well, Thomas Muller did)

Of course, Bayern could not feel too bad about having their main goalscorer taken from them, considering that is exactly what they did to chief Bundesliga rivals Dortmund when they signed Lewandowski on a free transfer in 2014.

Inevitably, it turned out to be a key move as BVB fell away after struggling to replace him, while Lewandowski went on to score an exceptional number of goals at his new home.

Overall, he scored 344 goals and recorded 57 assists in 375 appearances for Bayern, and in the 2020-21 campaign, he broke Gerd Muller's long-standing Bundesliga record by scoring 41 times in a single season, while his 43 league goals in 2021 serve as the record for a calendar year in Germany's top tier.

Last season, Lewandowski scored 50 goals across all competitions, the most across Europe's top five leagues, as Bayern lifted their 10th Bundesliga title in a row.

In all, he won eight league titles, three DFB-Pokal's, as well as a Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

After that, it was 'Lewan-gone-ski', as team-mate Thomas Muller may well have called him after his departure, before holding far too long for applause.

What is 11 minus a nine?

With arguably the best number nine in the game gone, Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann wanted to evolve his team, making them less reliant on one figure for so many goals and spreading the responsibility.

Sadio Mane joined from Liverpool as the de facto replacement, and before the DFL-Super Cup win against RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann admitted: "When we agreed to Barcelona's offer [for Lewandowski], it was planned that we might not sign anyone else for this position."

The theory was that the likes of Mane, Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry, fresh from signing a new contract, could increase their output in front of goal, while the ever reliable Muller and the increasingly promising Jamal Musiala would also be potent sources.

Things certainly started well enough with a 5-3 win against Leipzig, followed by a 6-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening Bundesliga game.

After a 2-0 victory at home to Wolfsburg, Bayern put seven past Bochum and talk of a lack of goals could not have been further from anyone's lips.

However, three draws in a row in the league against Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin and Stuttgart have followed, which has seen Union emerge as the surprise Bundesliga leaders after six games.

In those games, Bayern have scored a total of 19 goals, with 10 different scorers, registering 12 points in the Bundesliga.

By comparison, in their first six league games last season when Lewandowski was still front and centre for them, they scored 23 goals, though with only seven different scorers, and the Pole providing seven goals of his own, and had 16 points after five wins and just one draw.

In their opening Champions League game, though, Nagelsmann's men put in a terrific performance as they beat Inter 2-0 at San Siro, with their second goal in particular showcasing the sort of passing and moving around the box that feels more possible when you don't have an orthodox number nine as the obvious target.

Lewandowski picks up in Spain where he left off in Germany

Though it took a bit of, shall we say, moving things around so Barcelona could register their new star striker, along with a number of other signings in the transfer window, there has been very little adaptation needed for Lewandowski in LaLiga.

He has already scored six goals in his first five league games, making him the fastest player to reach that figure in the competition in the 21st century.

The forward also has two assists, which makes him the joint-fastest to have been involved in eight goals in the 21st century, alongside former Barca players Rafael van der Vaart in 2008 and Cesc Fabregas in 2011.

Lewandowski also added three more goals to his impressive total in the Champions League with a hat-trick in Barca's 5-1 win against Viktoria Plzen at Camp Nou last week.

That made him outright third in the competition's all-time leading scorers with 89 goals in 107 appearances, behind only Lionel Messi (125 goals in 157 games) and Cristiano Ronaldo (140 goals in 183 games).

Of course, Lewandowski has recent history of this fixture, playing for Bayern as they beat Barca 3-0 home and away in last season's Champions League group stage, scoring twice in the first game in Spain.

It played a big part in the Catalan giants being dumped out of the competition at that stage for the first time in over 20 years, but with Lewandowski on board, Xavi's side will be hoping he can fire them to the round of 16 and beyond, just as he did so regularly for Bayern.

Lewandowski has already started to do so with his treble against Plzen, but will he be able to make an impact again when he faces his former club, or will Bayern be able to prove they have started to move on without him?

Antonio Conte believes it would be for the best if Tottenham could rotate Son Heung-min rather than have the superstar forward play in every match.

Son has made at least 40 appearances in all competitions in each of his seven full seasons at Spurs, while only in his first campaign in England did he start fewer than 30 matches.

This term, the South Korea attacker has started all seven games for his club, although he is yet to score and has supplied only a single assist.

With Richarlison signed in the close season, following the January arrival of Dejan Kulusevski, Conte appears to now have the requisite depth to leave Son out of his team given this sub-par form.

The Tottenham coach could do so at Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday, although the postponement of the weekend's game against Manchester City – due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II – has given his team more time to recover.

Attempting to fit Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski and Harry Kane into the same XI, Conte said: "The postponed game allows me to make a different decision.

"Against Man City, I would have played with certain players, but now I change things in my mind."

However, pushed on the possibility of Son being left out at some stage, the coach replied: "I think when you try to build something important, with ambition and try to be competitive and win, you have to change old habits – otherwise you stay in balance and you don't want to have ambition.

"For this reason, all the players have to accept that rotation is part of this aspect. We have four players [up front], and it's very difficult right now to drop one.

"I have to take the best decision, sometimes for the players. Sometimes it's better to come in for 20, 30 minutes for them.

"I'm here to change the habit. The habit was that the players were used to playing all the time. Big clubs have a big squad.

"At the moment, we don't have a big squad, but we have just started this process."

Alvaro Morata hailed fellow Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann as being "fundamental" to the team's success ahead of their Champions League trip to Bayer Leverkusen.

Atleti made a strong start to their Champions League campaign against Porto last week, clinching a 2-1 victory in dramatic fashion courtesy of Griezmann's 101st-minute header.

That game was just the second in the competition's history to feature three goals after the 90th minute, while Griezmann's winner was the latest Champions League goal on record, scored after 100 minutes and 21 seconds (both stats excluding extra-time).

Griezmann's campaign has been overshadowed by suggestions Atleti are managing his minutes to avoid activating a purchase clause in the two-year loan deal they struck with Barcelona, but he has impressed when called upon.

Despite playing just 165 minutes in all competitions, Griezmann has scored three goals this season, a joint team-high alongside Morata.

Meanwhile, the 2018 World Cup winner has averaged a goal every 55 minutes in all competitions, by far the best ratio in Atleti's squad.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Morata showered his strike partner with praise, saying: "Antoine is a player who does not have to explain what he is. 

"He is fundamental for us not only when he is on the field, but also for the group. 

"He is always smiling, happy, he contributes many positive things to the group. He also transmits many positive things to us whether he plays or not. 

"He is one of the most important footballers we have. He brings us a lot of things and when he goes out on the field, he scores goals and does it well."

Having himself averaged a goal every 148 minutes, Morata has enjoyed something of a revival this campaign following an underwhelming two-year loan spell at Juventus.

The Spain international believes Diego Simeone's faith in him has been key to his good form, adding: "We have just started. I feel very good, I think I'm working well and so is the team. 

"I notice the confidence of the coach and I have always noticed it. I already told him one day that it was a pleasure to work with him, and here we are again with the same common goals. 

"I am so happy to be here. I'm only hopeful for the future and I'm going to work as hard as I can to have the greatest success."

Leverkusen represent a familiar opponent for Atletico – this will be the fourth different Champions League season in which the teams have met after doing so in the last 16 in 2014-15 and 2016-17, as well as in 2019-20's group stage.

But Simeone's men have only won one of their four away games against Leverkusen (D1 L2), and the Argentine is aware of the challenge at hand - despite the Germans' 1-0 defeat at Club Brugge last week.

"I have always had great respect for German teams, they have a strong head, they are tough, they don't go down until the end and they always compete well, as Leverkusen has done every time we played against them," Simeone said.

"I saw the last games, I liked the Brugge team. [Leverkusen] ended up losing a game where they surely deserved more than the result showed. 

"They are an organised team, which will leave the ball to us and will try to counter-attack with speed."

Simone Inzaghi is aware of the importance of Inter's upcoming trip to Viktoria Plzen as he targets 10 points to stand a chance of progressing from a difficult Champions League group.  

Having been drawn alongside two European heavyweights in Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Inter know taking maximum points against the Czech champions will be key to their hopes.

Inter suffered a chastening 2-0 defeat to Bayern on matchday one, but they have only lost their opening two games in one previous Champions League campaign, doing so in 2006-07 under Roberto Mancini. 

Inzaghi emphasised the significance of bouncing back from that disappointment on Tuesday as he labelled Group C the toughest in the competition.

"Undoubtedly, it is an important match; we know we have ended up in the most difficult group of the whole Champions League, but we want to play it," Inzaghi told reporters on Monday.

"The first game was not the best; we tried, but Bayern were better than us. Now we know that this game could put us in danger, but we want to face it in the best way."

Asked whether Tuesday's match would be decisive, Inzaghi added: "Since there are still four [games] missing, probably not.

"But we know the importance it has, and we know that nine times out of 10, you have to score 10 points to pass a group. 

"Last year, we were good at getting them. This year, we know that the group is more competitive, but tomorrow we want to score the first points because we want to change the standings."

Inter's only previous Champions League meetings with Czech opponents came in 2019-20, when they took four points from two games against Slavia Prague but failed to advance from their group.

Meanwhile, Inzaghi has a decision to make between the posts after starting Andre Onana against Bayern before Samir Handanovic was recalled for Saturday's 1-0 win over Torino.

Onana's 10 saves against the Bundesliga giants made up the highest tally on record by an Inter goalkeeper in the Champions League (since 2003-04), but Inzaghi would not confirm his involvement.

"As for the goalkeeper, I have decided, but at this moment I don't want to say it," he said.

"The players don't know it yet because we only had one training session. This morning we were able to work on the video, a little on the pitch. It's right that they know [first]."

Whoever starts in goal will hope to be protected by superstar centre-back Milan Skriniar, who remained at Inter despite rumoured interest from Paris Saint-Germain in the transfer window.

Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta declared his intention to tie Skriniar to fresh terms last month, but the 27-year-old, appearing alongside Inzaghi on Monday, refused to touch on his future.

"I've never talked [about it], and I prefer to stay like this," he said. "We came here to play this game, and I don't want to talk about my future and my contract; I don't think it's the right time and place. 

"When there will be news, you will know from me and from no one else, I have never spoken, and I prefer it to remain so."

Joel Matip thinks struggling Liverpool must go back to their "successful roots" in order to reverse their underwhelming start to the season.

Jurgen Klopp's men won both domestic cups and finished as Premier League and Champions League runners-up last season, but have made a stuttering start to the 2022-23 campaign.

Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in their opening game in Group A last week, the heaviest defeat by a Premier League side in their first game of a Champions League campaign since Arsenal lost 3-0 to Inter in 2003-04.

They have also drawn three and lost one of their six Premier League games so far, and speaking at a news conference on Monday, Matip revealed the players have made it clear to one another that their current standards are unacceptable.

"I think in the team we are all quite clear; sometimes it hurts, this is normal, but as a good team, which I think we are, you can speak out this truth," the defender said.

"You don't like to hear them maybe in the first moments sometimes, but everybody knows that something has to happen and that we have to improve.

"We have to work on these kinds of things and for these kinds of things you have to talk.

"There was a big focus on defending [after losing to Napoli] because this is the biggest thing to get successful. I think this is the first step, defend good.

"I think it always helps if you go back to the roots and these are successful roots. If you're based on this, this can give you help for a struggling time."

Matip has made just one start for Liverpool this season after struggling with injury, but came off the bench in their last two games and could be in line to start against Ajax on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old has been at Anfield since 2016 after arriving on a free transfer from Schalke, and has accepted his status as a role model for younger players, especially when things are not going well.

"You need to lead, you need to talk with each other and need to help each other," he added.

"That's the only [way], you cannot go as a person out of this, only as a team. For this, you need to have team-mates and you need to help your team-mates.

"If you are old and experienced, you should do it."

Xavi has challenged Barcelona to demonstrate their growth under his leadership when they face a huge Champions League test at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Barca have only twice beaten Bayern in 13 attempts and have never won this fixture away from home.

In the Champions League, the Blaugrana have lost eight of their 11 meetings with the Bundesliga giants – twice their number of defeats inflicted by any other opponent (four v Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain).

Barcelona fell to one of the most embarrassing defeats in their history against Bayern in August 2020, being hammered 8-2 in the quarter-finals in Lisbon, and they were beaten twice by Julian Nagelsmann's men last season. 

But the Catalan giants have steadily improved since November 2021, when legendary midfielder Xavi was appointed as head coach.

Now, it is up to his side to prove it, as Xavi told reporters on Monday: "I think there are a lot of expectations placed on us this season.

"Tomorrow's result won't change anything, but it is true that it is a challenge to win here, a stadium where we have never won.

"We have been working together for 10 months, and we have grown. We have the feeling and the challenge that we can win this game and that we can finally change the dynamic.

"We play against one of the best teams in the world, and tomorrow we want to show that this dynamic has changed.

"However, let's remember that tomorrow there are only three points at stake."

Tuesday's clash is set to be a particularly special occasion for Robert Lewandowski, the former Bayern forward who joined Barca ahead of the new season.

Lewandowski netted a club-record 69 Champions League goals for Bayern, including 38 in 37 games at the Allianz Arena.

"I see Robert very well," Xavi added. "He is very motivated, he rested the other day and he will be fresh. I imagine it will be very special for him.

"Tomorrow we will try to show our personality and beat one of the best teams in the world."

Julian Nagelsmann expressed his desire to see Robert Lewandowski receive a warm welcome on his Bayern Munich return, as he backed the striker to continue his fine start to life at Barcelona.

Lewandowski, who scored 238 Bundesliga goals during an eight-year spell with the Bavarian giants before heading to Camp Nou in July, has made a scintillating start to his Barcelona career. 

The Poland international has scored six goals in his first five outings in LaLiga, and turned on the style with a hat-trick in Barca's 5-1 Champions League thrashing of Viktoria Plzen last week.

Lewandowski will make a swift return to Munich with his new club for Tuesday's huge Champions League fixture, and despite the less-than-amicable nature of his departure, Nagelsmann believes he should be received warmly.

"If I see him before [the game] then I'm certainly going to give him my hand. I'm not sure if I'll see him beforehand, usually I don't," Nagelsmann said.

"I'm looking forward to our fans welcoming him back. When a player has been so strong for the team over the years, I think it's important. 

"He was an important part of the Bayern family. We had a personal exchange a couple of weeks back, not regarding football. I am looking forward to seeing him again."

Asked about Lewandowski's start to life in Spain, Nagelsmann added: "I think he can still continue to play at that level for a couple of years, I'm not sure how many goals he can score this season, I'm no genie. 

"I think it will be plenty. He has scored 40 plus usually, so I think he can do that in the Spanish league as well.

"I'm not sure if he's the most dangerous, but he's certainly one of their most dangerous players, the one that can score the most goals. They have great solutions there.

"Lewandowski always has great runs and positions inside the box. He's the most dangerous in front of goal, but if he doesn't get a lot of balls, it's difficult [for him]."

Having coached Lewandowski when he brought up a half-century of goals in all competitions last term, Nagelsmann is acutely aware of his talents, and believes Dayot Upamecano's past experiences of facing him could aid Bayern. 

"I have plenty of positions that I'm already pretty clear on," Nagelsmann added. "Upamecano has memories of playing against Lewandowski, back when he was at RB Leipzig. He knows him from our practice as well."

While Upamecano is set to start at the Allianz Arena, Leon Goretzka will not, as Nagelsmann looks to ease the midfielder in following his injury lay-off.

"The position next to Joshua [Kimmich] is going to be [Marcel] Sabitzer," Nagelsmann said. 

"I've had a chat with Leon, it was my decision to keep him on [against Stuttgart on Saturday]. We decided to keep him on for 94 minutes, that was a long time for him after the injury. He reacted well to it and is feeling good. 

"Him having to play from the start is not going to happen, we need him for the whole season and don't want to give him too many minutes at the start."

Meanwhile, Barcelona have suffered eight Champions League defeats to Bayern – twice as many as they have lost against any other opponent (4 vs Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain).

Bayern also boast a 100 per cent record against the Blaugrana in the group stages and beat them twice in the competition last term, but Nagelsmann is keen to draw a line under those past meetings.

"We know Barcelona. They have a completely new mindset. You can delete the last few games against Barca from your memory, it's a whole different team, very aggressive," he said. "It reminds us of when Xavi still used to play himself. 

"In Gavi and Pedri they have great number eights that have great pressing actions as well. There's a great development there for the team, Xavi did a few things really well in the last weeks and months.

"They want to attack in a new way, and they're going to be very difficult opponents tomorrow."

Jurgen Klopp conceded Liverpool's 4-1 humbling at the hands of Napoli in the Champions League was their worst game since he took charge in 2015.

Liverpool were comprehensively beaten by the Serie A side in their opening game in Group A, the heaviest defeat by a Premier League side in their first game of a Champions League campaign since Arsenal lost 3-0 to Inter in 2003-04.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of their second group game at home to Ajax, Klopp did not hold back in his assessment of the "horror show" at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

After Premier League games were postponed following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Klopp also said his team would rather have played this weekend but "respected" the decision not to.

"Yes, we would have wanted to play," he said. "But for the reasons we all know it didn't happen and, of course, we respect that.

"Now we try to use the time for analysis and training, which made absolute sense after the game we played at Napoli.

"I have lots of thoughts [on the Napoli game]. I watched the game back plenty of times and it was a real horror show, to be honest.

"It was the worst game we played since I'm here. We've had a few bad games, I know that. Everyone remembers Aston Villa [7-2 loss in 2020-21] and some others where we were just not up to speed, but there were always glimpses in these games. In this particular game, [there was] nothing.

"You have to understand why that happens, it's not a common thing, that's more an individual thing. Eight out of 11 [players] were absolutely below their level, three others were not on top level, just [played] a normal game.

"In football it's like this, you sort all individual problems as a team, and that's the first thing we have to do, to follow a common idea again.

"Everything we did since I'm here and everything teams do in football is based on really solid, if not perfect, defending. That's what we had to work on, and that's what we did."

Liverpool have made an uninspiring start to the season, drawing three and losing one of their six Premier League games so far, and Klopp revealed there have been some home truths within the camp following the performance in Naples.

"I know that the players want to sort the situation, we are not over the moon about our season so far," he added. 

"In the end we all agreed that we could have conceded more goals in [the Napoli] game. We could have scored one or two more as well, but we could have conceded more, which is really crazy.

"We had absolute truth - didn't hide anything, we didn't hold back anything, there was no need for that... but not to knock the players down, just to make sure where we are now after this game, this is the starting point for us and now we have to make sure we sort the problems together on the pitch." 

Klopp confirmed that midfield duo Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – who were both left out of the Champions League squad – will not return from their respective injuries until October, despite the former being called up to the Guinea squad for the upcoming international break.

"No, I don't expect [Keita] to go on international duty," he said. "The return date is sometime in October, that's why we had to make the decision, with Ox it's the same, and that's why the two boys are not in the Champions League squad."

The Reds boss will also be without Andrew Robertson for the clash with Ajax, confirming the Scotland captain suffered an injury near the end of the Napoli defeat.

"Robbo is not 100 per cent," he said. "Very late, 93rd minute, he actually felt it the next day only, but he's out. I would say at least until after the international break."

Champions League football resumes on Tuesday, with Robert Lewandowski's return to Bayern Munich with Barcelona being an obvious highlight.

Barcelona travel to Bavaria in a match few would be disappointed to see replicated in next year's final, with Atletico Madrid also travelling to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen.

After Premier League football was suspended at the weekend as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen, Liverpool are back in action against Ajax and are seeking to respond to a defeat to Napoli last week, while Tottenham travel to face Sporting CP.

Elsewhere, Inter face Viktoria Plzen after both sides lost their opening fixture and Eintracht Frankfurt, following defeat to Sporting, travel to Marseille – and the only remaining match of the day is Porto against Brugge.

For a closer look at all the action you can look forward to, Stats Perform has dived into the Opta data to highlight the most interesting facts for each match.

Bayern vs Barcelona

Scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for Barcelona against Viktoria Plzen, Lewandowski returns to Bavaria with a devastating record this season and his goals in the 5-1 triumph saw Barcelona scoring more in one game than they had in their previous nine matches in the competition (4).

While that will give the visitors confidence, Barcelona have a poor record against the Bundesliga champions having suffered eight defeats in the competition to Bayern – twice as many as they have lost against any other opponent (4 vs Milan, Chelsea and PSG).

Four of those losses have come in the group stages, with Bayern winning both matches in 1998-99 and 2021-22 to boast a 100 per cent record against Barcelona in that regard, who have not lost more than twice against any other opponent in the group stage.

On top of that, Bayern have won 35 of their last 37 home matches in the group stages of the Champions League – the only exceptions being a 3-2 defeat to Manchester City in December 2013 and a 1-1 draw with Ajax in October 2018.

Liverpool vs Ajax

Liverpool won both meetings with Ajax in the 2020-21 Champions League group stages, the only campaign in the competition when they have met, with the Dutch side not beating Liverpool in any competition since a 5-1 win in December 1966.

Ajax's defeat to Liverpool in December 2020 is one of only two defeats that the Eredivisie champions have experienced in their last 25 matches (W13, D10) away from home in UEFA competition, the other being a 2-0 defeat to Getafe in February 2020 in the Europa League.

Having suffered defeat to Napoli last week, Liverpool are looking to avoid back-to-back defeats to start a Champions League campaign for the first time, while they have only lost their first home match in two of their previous 46 major European campaigns (W35, D9).

With seven Champions League wins in a row, Ajax travel to Anfield with a stellar run in the competition as only Bayern (8) boast a better winning streak currently.

Sporting vs Tottenham

While the two sides have never met competitively, Sporting are winless in all six of their Champions League matches against English opposition (D1, L5) and have lost all three of those games in Lisbon without scoring a single goal.

Tottenham's record against Portuguese opponents is scarce, winning against Pacos de Ferreira in the qualifying phases for the 2021-22 Europa League but not facing an opponent from the country in the Europe's premier competition since a 4-3 aggregate defeat to Benfica in the 1962-63 semi-final.

Sporting have never won their opening two matches in the Champions League, while Antonio Conte is looking to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs seek back-to-back wins to open a Champions League campaign for the first time since 2017-18 season under the Argentine.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atletico

Neither side has a particularly good record to encourage them heading into Tuesday's tie, with Leverkusen having won just four of their last 20 Champions League matches (D8, L8), while Atletico have only kept one clean sheet in 21 away matches against German opposition in major UEFA competitions.

Atletico have only won one of four away matches against Leverkusen, a 4-2 victory in February 2017 in the Champions League, and have won only one of their last seven matches in Germany – though that was the match in 2017.

Late drama is to be expected whenever Atletico compete in the Champions League, with five of their last 10 goals in the competition coming in the 90th minute of matches.

Other fixtures:

Viktoria Plzen vs Inter

8 - Viktoria Plzen have won their last eight home European matches (including qualifiers), scoring at least twice in every win (21 in total). They have only lost one of their last 19 on home soil in European football (W16 D2), a 5-0 reverse against Real Madrid during their last UEFA Champions League campaign in November 2018.

2 - Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Inter striker Lautaro Martínez has scored just two goals from 48 shots (inc. blocks) in the UEFA Champions League. The Argentine’s shot conversion rate of 4.2 per cent (including blocks) is the lowest of any player to have attempted 30+ shots during this period.

Porto vs Brugge

3 - Porto have lost their last three UEFA Champions League matches, with two of those coming against Atletico; they have never lost four in a row in the competition before.

1 - In major European competition, Club Brugge have lost five of their six away matches in Portugal (W1), their one win coming against Sporting Braga in September 2011 in the UEFA Europa League.

Marseille vs Eintracht Frankfurt

15 - Marseille have lost 15 of their last 16 UEFA Champions League matches (W1), with the exception coming in their last home game in the competition in December 2020 against Olympiacos.

2 - Marseille and Eintracht Frankfurt will face in European competition for only the second time, also meeting in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League group stages. Frankfurt won both matches (2-1 away, 4-0 home).

UEFA has confirmed the Champions League and other European club competitions will feature in the Football Manager video game series for the first time this year.

The latest instalment of Sports Interactive and SEGA's hugely popular series, Football Manager 2023, will be released on November 8.

Players will now be able to compete in fully licenced editions of the Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Super Cup, while the Women's Champions League will appear in a future version of the game.

Sports Interactive's studio director Miles Jacobsen revealed last July that the game's creators plan to introduce women's football in the future.

A UEFA press release read: "The UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League and UEFA Super Cup will feature for the first time ever in Sports Interactive's and SEGA's iconic series, Football Manager. 

"Although it will not feature in Football Manager 2023, the flagship women’s football club competition, the UEFA Women's Champions League, is also included in the licencing agreement and will debut in a future version of the game."

Jacobsen said: "Adding these historic competitions is an ideal fit for all parties involved and will add another dynamic and challenging element for fans that makes this year's edition the most realistic football management simulation available."