Champions League Matchday 3 Preview

There is UEFA Champions League football for the second week running, with the pressure already starting to intensify for some teams. A total of nine clubs are perfect from the opening two matchdays, with eight still awaiting their first point of the campaign. Another four sides are also looking for their maiden victories.

Ahead of Tuesday and Wednesday's play, here is a preview of the matchday 3 action to come.

Holders Face Toughest Test Yet

One of Tuesday's early kickoffs pits together Fenerbahçe and Slavia Praha. It was disappointment for both teams last week, with three points a must for either if they hope to progress from the league phase. Fener have lost two of three head-to-heads with Slavia, though they did defeat their local rivals Sparta home and away at this stage 22 years ago. The Czech side are yet to have ever win an away match in the UCL proper, having lost their last three. Moreover, Slavia have failed to score in seven of their last eight in continental away matches.

Sabah Baku, coming off a stunning win last time out, play host to Borussia Dortmund. The club from Azerbaijan are victorious in all five home matches in the Champions League this term, qualifying included. Four of those five successes saw them keep clean sheets. It will be a much tougher job for them against a Dortmund team that have won all four previous matches versus Azeri opposition, outscoring them 12-1. With four away losses on the spin, Die Schwarzgelben will want to avoid losing consecutive games in the competition.

In Italy, AS Roma welcome Slovan Bratislava. It was a disastrous turn of events for the Giallorossi a week ago, and will be expected to return to winning ways at home. With that said, they will have revenge on their mind: they were knocked out of the Europa League at the playoff round against Slovan in 2011/12. Speaking of the Slovak outfit, are looking for their first point in the UCL at the 11th time of asking. So far, the former UEFA Cup Winners Cup winners have conceded multiple times in each of their 10 games in the UCL so far.

The Portuguese and Dutch champions square off as Porto take on PSV Eindhoven. This will be the fifth head-to-head match all-time, with Porto leading (two wins to one, plus a draw). The pair will face off for the first time since the inaugural edition of the Champions League under its current banner. Porto picked up a win and a draw in that 1992/93 group stage. For PSV, they are winless in their last four against sides from Portugal, losing three of the games. They are looking to avoid going without a win in their opening three ties for the second time in three years.

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Liverpool and Villarreal meet once more a few years on from their semifinal battle in 2021/22. The Reds came out on top 3-1 on aggregate, winning the home leg 3-0. In fact, both of Liverpool's home victories over the Yellow Submarine saw them keep a clean sheet. Villarreal ended a lengthy winless run with a home victory last time out. The LaLiga side have only five wins against English sides from 24 games all-time (5-8-11), and have not come out on top in normal time since 2020/21.

After a home defeat, Manchester City have the chance to bounce back as AEK Athens make the trip to England. The Cityzens have lost back-to-back home games in the UCL since 2017/18. Only once have they beaten thrice in a row, which came at the start of 2018/19 against Lyon. AEK's fourth and most recent win over an English club came in the UEL group phase at Brighton three years ago. The Greek champions have never won on the road in the UCL proper.

The standout match on Tuesday night sees Paris Saint-Germain take on Barcelona. Les Parisiens won 2-1 away to Barca a year ago. Before that, the two did meet in the group phase 11 years prior, with the home side coming out on top on both occasions. Barca, who lead the head-to-head 7-4-6, have just one victory in their last five clashes. That did come in the quarterfinal back in 2023/24, though they went on to lose the tie. That same season was the last time the Catalans won their opening three UCL games in a season.

Already in trouble after two straight defeats, Napoli aim to get on the board at home to Bodø/Glimt. The Partenopei won both legs of a Cup Winners Cup tie a half century ago against Bodø, which remains their only games versus Norwegian sides. Including last season, Napoli are on a five-game winless streak in the competition, losing four and drawing the other. Bodø made the round of 16 last term, beating Internazionale home and away in the knockout playoffs. Their success at San Siro was their first in Italy across eight attempts.

In Germany, Stuttgart take on Atlético Madrid. Entering the match with two wins from two, the Bundesliga club last opened a group phase with three victories in the Europa League 16 years ago in the Europa League. However, they do have a rather poor 4-4-9 against Spanish teams, which is worrisome. Semifinalists last term, Atleti won last week to bounce back from opening round disappointment. While they have never faced Stuttgart in Europe, Los Rojiblancos did win a Cup Winners Cup final in the same venue back in 1962 against Fiorentina.

Match of the Round: Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

This week's match of the round is another rematch from last fall's league phase between Bayern Munich and Arsenal.

The Bavarians have a strong record in this head-to-head, winning eight of 15 matches (8-3-4). That counts for nearly a third of all their wins over English sides (29-19-18). Bayern did lose to Arsenal a year ago on the road, but have not lost at home to a Premier League outfit since 2018/19, when Liverpool knocked them out at the round of 16. The Germans have also prevailed in their last nine home matches during the group phase.

Arsenal are on a 14-game winning streak in league phase play since their 1-0 loss to Inter nearly two years ago. Should they keep Bayern out on Wednesday, the Gunners will have maintained a third straight clean sheet to begin a group phase for the third year running. Since their elimination to Bayern in the 2023/24 quarterfinals, Arsenal are 2-1-0 versus German teams.

LASK Face Uphill Battle

Wednesday's opener will come in Italy as Como welcome Manchester United. It has been a mixed start for the Serie A outfit, who won their maiden match only to fall last time out. The only European debutants in this season's competition, the Biancoblù will need to recover quickly to avoid successive reverses. United are also 1-0-1 so far, winning their league phase opener before a defeat in Spain. The Red Devils are 21-7-15 against Italian sides, with just one defeat in their last seven in such outings.

The other early kickoff for Wednesday will see LOSC Lille face off against Galatasaray. Les Dogues have never lost to a Turkish side in six previous games (2-4-0), though this is their first-ever meeting with Gala. However, the French side are on a four-game losing skid in European action. Galatasaray will be facing a sixth different Ligue 1 team. They currently have at least one victory versus the other five they have met in continental play. They are also on a three-match run of defeats in the UCL.

Aston Villa welcome Viking in what will be seen as a good chance for the Villains to go three-for-three. Twenty-seven years on from knocking out Strømsgodset in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round, Villa are up versus a Norwegian team for the second time. In what is a fourth successive campaign playing in Europe, the Birmingham-based team have just one home loss in Europe since 2023. After earning a valuable point last week, Viking have a win to their name versus Premier League clubs, albeit at home.

Belgium's Club Brugge meet RC Lens in their match. Blauw-Zwart recovered from their first game with an impressive victory last week. Club beat two different French teams in the 2025/26 edition, including a crucial 4-1 defeat of Marseille on the final matchday. They also have scored multiple goals in five of their last six UCL matches. Lens finished 2-2-2 in all three of their previous UCL group campaigns. Les Sang et Or are one of 13 sides with a win and a loss so far. All of their other matches versus Belgian teams came in 1983/84 in the UEFA Cup, going 2-3-1.

Internazionale will strive to maintain their unbeaten record against Ukrainian teams as they meet Shakhtar Donetsk. The Nerazzurri are 3-4-0 in seven head-to-head meetings, with their most recent clash coming in a one-off Europa League semifinal back in 2019/20. Inter have kept clean sheets in all four of their UCL games with Shakhtar. The Pitmen won a key game last week, opening up their account. It has been nine years since Shakhtar last advanced from a Champions League group phase, having beaten Napoli during that run.

Real Madrid are back at home to face RB Leipzig. Real have two wins to their name in four matches with Leipzig, outscoring them 6-5 so far. Los Blancos have enjoyed much success in matchday 3 of the Champions League, having won in this round in each of the last eight years. Leipzig are without victory in their last seven away games in Europe, losing six of them. Their only win on Spanish soil came in 2021/22 against Real Sociedad in the Europa League knockout playoffs.

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Former Conference League finalists Real Betis play host to Feyenoord in what is a great opportunity for the two teams. Betis could be on their way through if they can collect what would be a third straight win. They have a strong record with Dutch sides, having come out on top in four of six previous matches (4-1-1). Feyenoord have not had any joy in European away matches as their last 10 road games have ended without a win (0-2-8). They also lost to Betis to conclude their UEL league phase showing last January.

Sporting CP have the potential to get nine points from their three matches, but will have to see off LASK Linz first. While they have a solid record versus Austrian sides (8-1-5), two of the losses came against LASK. The most recent loss came in the 2020/21 Europa League playoff round in a single leg affair. LASK are among the eight teams without a point so far. The Austrians are 11 road games without a win, losing their last nine. During the losing skid, they managed to score just twice on their travels.