Football writer Sam Cunningham previews Tuesday and Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League fixtures involving six Premier League clubs as they play their sixth matches in this season’s competition.
Atalanta v Chelsea
Tuesday 9 December 20:00 (all times GMT)
Just when things had started looking up for Chelsea, they have hit a bumpy patch of form and a trip to Atalanta offers no easy solution to their problems.
The Italian side may only be 12th in Serie A, but they have been extremely difficult to beat at home in UEFA competition group stages, where they have lost only once in nine games, winning four and drawing four.
They have also not conceded a goal in three successive Champions League matches.
Following a surprise defeat to Leeds United and draw against AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca will be desperate to return to winning ways.
Atalanta, meanwhile, ended a three-game winning streak with a defeat to Verona on Saturday.
This could be a crucial game as each club vie for a place in the top eight to guarantee qualification for the last 16. Both clubs are on 10 points; Chelsea are seventh with a superior goal difference, while Atlanta are 10th.
Cole Palmer was unable to train on Monday after making his first start in 10 weeks against Bournemouth last Saturday as Chelsea cautiously bring him back to full fitness.
Davide Zappacosta, the full-back, won the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League with Chelsea and returns to face his former club, after leaving for Atalanta in 2021.
Internazionale Milano v Liverpool
Tuesday 9 December 20:00
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot faces a monumental challenge to stop the Reds’ struggles as they go up against the second-placed Serie A side, Inter, who have reached two of the last three Champions League finals – losing both – and are notoriously tough to beat at home.
Slot is dealing with a crisis at Liverpool. Only one win in six games, dreadful form since September and star Mohamed Salah admitting at the weekend, following a draw with Leeds United, he was uncertain about his future.
Salah was subsequently dropped from the squad for the trip to Italy and Slot himself expressed uncertainty about the Egyptian’s future.
Now, Liverpool, who start the round in 13th with nine points, risk dropping towards the unseeded playoff places if they lose – meaning they could face a tougher knockout opponent to progress to the next round.
Inter, who have won 14 of their last 17 matches, have hit 11 goals in three games, conceding only once. They are fourth in the league phase table and pushing for automatic qualification.
Watch out for striker Lautaro Martinez, who has scored six goals in his last seven matches. Defender Manuel Akanji, meanwhile, will be a familiar face after moving on loan to Inter from Manchester City in the summer.
The two sides have not faced each other often. Liverpool have won four and lost two of their six meetings, but they stretch across 60 years. Inter won their last match 1-0, although Liverpool beat them on aggregate in that last-16 tie.
Can Liverpool find solace in a quirk of fate? They have lost only twice in 16 matches played on 9 December, the two defeats coming against Fiorentina in 2009 and Independiente in 1984 in a run that stretches back to 1933.
Tottenham Hotspur v Slavia Prague
Tuesday 9 December 20:00
There are few better sides to play in the Champions League than Slavia Prague.
The Czech side have not won in the competition this season, or scored in their last four matches, unable to take the unbeaten form that has put them top of the Czech Liga by five points into Europe.
A win for Spurs against Brentford at the weekend finally gave Thomas Frank some respite after five games without one, during a spell in which fans have grown restless.
He is looking to build on that against a side who don’t fare well in the Champions League, having not won, aside from qualifiers, in 18 years.
One tiny area that may concern Spurs is that Slavia managed to keep clean sheets against Atalanta and, in their last Champions League match, versus Athletic Bilbao.
A win would be vital and propel Spurs, who are 16th on eight points, away from the unseeded knockout phase playoff places, giving them a slim chance of making one of the automatic qualification spots.
Frank said that qualifying for the playoffs is his priority. “Three points [on Tuesday] will be a massive step. In the first bit, that is to qualify for the playoff rounds. If and when hopefully we qualify for that, then we can look further ahead.”
They will, however, be without Destiny Udogie, who injured his hamstring against Brentford, while Brennan Johnson is “touch and go”, Frank said. Mathys Tel has been added to the UEFA Champions League squad in place of Dominic Solanke, who has a long-term ankle injury.
Antonin Kinsky, the goalkeeper, comes up against the club he left for Spurs in January, albeit he will more than likely be watching from the bench.
Bayer Leverkusen v Newcastle United
Wednesday 10 December 20:00
A very tough one to call. Only one point separates 11th-placed Newcastle United and 17th-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
But the German side will not fear Newcastle, whose struggles away from home extend to the Champions League, where they have only won two of their last 13 on the road, losing five and drawing six.
Newcastle will, nonetheless, feel hopeful. Leverkusen, fourth in the Bundesliga, were on a run of four straight wins when they stunned Man City with victory at the Etihad Stadium in their last Champions League game. Since then, however, they have lost two of their last three, including a defeat to Augsburg on Saturday.
Defender Jarell Quansah’s form since joining Leverkusen from Liverpool in the summer has been impressive and earned him an England debut against Albania in November.
It will be a big night for Eddie Howe, the Newcastle head coach, who can set indifferent Premier League form aside, that has left them mid-table, and put themselves in with a realistic shot of direct qualification to the Round of 16 with a victory.
Newcastle have won the only two meetings between the sides – beating Leverkusen 3-1 both home and away in the second group stage of the 2002/03 Champions League.
Club Brugge v Arsenal
Wednesday 10 December 20:00
The omens are good for Arsenal. The last time they won their first five group stage matches it was 2005, when they made it all the way to the Champions League final before losing to Barcelona.
Already automatically qualified for the next round, scoring at a rate of almost three goals a game and conceding only once, they will be expected to make it six wins in six against Club Brugge.
But can they score the four goals required to bring up 400 in European Cup history?
The Belgian side present the perfect antidote to recover after losing against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday and seeing their lead at the top of the table reduced to two points.
As well as sitting 26th and in the elimination places, Club Brugge have hit a patch of troubling form, losing four of their last six games. They fell to third in the Belgian top flight following defeat to St Truiden on Saturday.
That poor run ultimately led to the club announcing on Monday that they had parted ways with manager Nicky Hayen.
Hayen had been at Brugge since 2022 and has now been replaced by Ivan Leko.
The Croat returns to familiar surroundings after previously managing the club between 2017 and 2019, a spell during which he led Brugge to the league title, re-joining from Gent.
There remains the possibility that William Saliba makes a return to the Arsenal squad for the first time since playing in the Champions League win against Bayern Munich at the end of November. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, has said recently that Saliba is “close” to playing. Belgian Leandro Trossard is a doubt for the match in his homeland.
Real Madrid v Manchester City
Wednesday 10 December 20:00
The mouthwatering match of the round. Two European giants face off, pitting two of the Champions League’s in-form forwards against one another.
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has already scored a phenomenal nine goals in five Champions League games. Erling Haaland is trailing but remains joint third, with five, alongside Harry Kane in the top-scorer charts, and will be aiming to catch up.
After a surprise defeat to Leverkusen and a draw with Monaco, Pep Guardiola’s side need points to avoid losing ground on the top eight. They sit just outside, in ninth with 10 points, although only two points separate them and second-placed Paris Saint-Germain.
There could barely be a better time to play Real Madrid.
Xabi Alonso, the Real Madrid manager, is under huge pressure after a faltering five weeks in which they have drawn three and lost two of seven games, including a shock defeat to Celta Vigo at the weekend. They had three players sent off in that match.
In addition, multiple reports state Real Madrid are ready to sack Alonso if they fail to get a positive result against City. An emergency meeting regarding his future was held on Monday, a development confirmed by El Mundo, Marca and The Athletic.
On Monday, Eder Militao was added to a mounting injury list which includes Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen.
City, meanwhile, are starting to rediscover some of their frightening form of old: three straight wins, scoring 11 goals, putting them second in the Premier League.
Rodri is still seeking a return from a persistent hamstring problem, but this match looks set to come too soon.
The two sides have faced each other 14 times, Madrid slightly edging the head-to-head, with five wins to City’s four. They overtook City after knocking them out of the knockout playoffs last season, winning both legs by an aggregate score of 6-3.
