Champions League: Matchday 1 - Lineups & Injury Report
The Champions League is back, and with it comes a wave of excitement for football fans across the globe. Matchday 1 brings a plethora of mouthwatering clashes, with some of Europe's biggest clubs facing off in the quest for the prestigious trophy.
Before the action kicks off, let's take a look at the predicted lineups and key injury concerns for each group.
Group A
- Bayern Munich vs. Inter Milan (Tuesday, September 19th)
Bayern Munich:
- Predicted Lineup: Neuer; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Müller, Coman; Choupo-Moting
- Injury Report: Sadio Mané and Kingsley Coman are both expected to be available after recovering from injuries.
Inter Milan:
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Predicted Lineup: Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martínez, Džeko
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Injury Report: Romelu Lukaku is a doubt after picking up a muscle injury.
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Barcelona vs. Viktoria Plzeň (Tuesday, September 19th)
Barcelona:
- Predicted Lineup: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araújo, Christensen, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé, Lewandowski, Raphinha
- Injury Report: Jules Koundé is a doubt after picking up a knock.
Viktoria Plzeň:
- Predicted Lineup: Staněk; Havel, Hejda, Pernica, Jemelka; Kalvach, Bucha, Vlkanova; Mosquera, Chory, Pereira
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group B
- Porto vs. Atlético Madrid (Tuesday, September 19th)
Porto:
- Predicted Lineup: Costa; João Mario, Pepe, Marcano, Wendell; Otávio, Eustaquio, Grujic; Taremi, Evanilson, Pepê
- Injury Report: Wendell is expected to return from injury.
Atlético Madrid:
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Predicted Lineup: Oblak; Molina, Savić, Giménez, Reinildo; Koke, De Paul, Barrios; Carrasco, Griezmann, Félix
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Injury Report: João Félix is a doubt after picking up a muscle injury.
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Club Brugge vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Tuesday, September 19th)
Club Brugge:
- Predicted Lineup: Mignolet; Meijer, Mechele, Sylla, Buchanan; Vanaken, Nielsen; Nusa, Sowah, Lang; Jutglà
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Bayer Leverkusen:
- Predicted Lineup: Hradecky; Frimpong, Tah, Tapsoba, Bakker; Palacios, Andrich; Diaby, Wirtz, Bellarabi; Schick
- Injury Report: Florian Wirtz is back from a long-term injury.
Group C
- Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund (Wednesday, September 14th)
Manchester City:
- Predicted Lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Mahrez, Haaland, Foden
- Injury Report: Erling Haaland is expected to be fit after recovering from a foot injury.
Borussia Dortmund:
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Predicted Lineup: Kobel; Süle, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Can; Adeyemi, Reus, Brandt; Haller
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Injury Report: Karim Adeyemi is a doubt after picking up a knock.
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Sevilla vs. Copenhagen (Wednesday, September 14th)
Sevilla:
- Predicted Lineup: Bono; Navas, Marcao, Gudelj, Acuña; Jordán, Fernando, Rakitic; Óliver Torres, Isco, En-Nesyri
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Copenhagen:
- Predicted Lineup: Grabara; Diks, Nelsson, Vavro, Lerager; Falk, Kristensen, Zeca; Claesson, Wind, Daramy
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group D
- Liverpool vs. Ajax (Tuesday, September 13th)
Liverpool:
- Predicted Lineup: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Firmino, Núñez
- Injury Report: Luis Díaz and Diogo Jota are both expected to be back in the squad.
Ajax:
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Predicted Lineup: Pasveer; Rensch, Timber, Bassey, Blind; Berghuis, Álvarez, Taylor; Kudus, Tadic, Bergwijn
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Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
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Napoli vs. Rangers (Tuesday, September 13th)
Napoli:
- Predicted Lineup: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim Min-jae, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka; Lozano, Kvaratskhelia, Politano; Osimhen
- Injury Report: Victor Osimhen is expected to be fit after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Rangers:
- Predicted Lineup: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic; Lundstram, Davis, Kamara; Wright, Morelos, Kent
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group E
- Chelsea vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Wednesday, September 14th)
Chelsea:
- Predicted Lineup: Mendy; James, Silva, Koulibaly, Chilwell; Jorginho, Kante; Mount, Sterling, Havertz; Aubameyang
- Injury Report: N'Golo Kanté is a doubt after picking up a hamstring injury.
Dinamo Zagreb:
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Predicted Lineup: Livaković; Moharrami, Šutalo, Perić, Ljubičić; Mišić, Ademi, Ivanušec; Oršić, Petković, Baturina
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Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
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AC Milan vs. Salzburg (Wednesday, September 14th)
AC Milan:
- Predicted Lineup: Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Díaz, Leao; Giroud
- Injury Report: Mike Maignan is a doubt after picking up a calf injury.
Salzburg:
- Predicted Lineup: Köhn; Seiwald, Solet, Pavlovic, Ulmer; Sucic, Gourna-Douath; Okafor, Kjærgaard, Adamu; Sesko
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group F
- Real Madrid vs. Celtic (Wednesday, September 14th)
Real Madrid:
- Predicted Lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Mendy; Modrić, Camavinga, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Celtic:
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Predicted Lineup: Hart; Ralston, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Tierney; Hatate, McGregor, O'Riley; Abada, Maeda, Jota
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Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
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RB Leipzig vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Wednesday, September 14th)
RB Leipzig:
- Predicted Lineup: Blaswich; Klostermann, Simakan, Gvardiol, Raum; Laimer, Schlager; Nkunku, Szoboszlai, Forsberg; Werner
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Shakhtar Donetsk:
- Predicted Lineup: Trubin; Bondar, Matvienko, Taylor, Konoplyanka; Stepanenko, Mudryk; Sudakov, Zubkov, Rakitskiy; Traoré
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group G
- Manchester United vs. Real Sociedad (Thursday, September 15th)
Manchester United:
- Predicted Lineup: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
- Injury Report: Anthony Martial is a doubt after picking up a back injury.
Real Sociedad:
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Predicted Lineup: Remiro; Gorosabel, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Rico; Merino, Zubimendi, Brais Méndez; Kubo, Sorloth, Oyarzabal
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Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
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Sheriff Tiraspol vs. Omonia Nicosia (Thursday, September 15th)
Sheriff Tiraspol:
- Predicted Lineup: Atiemwen; Kiki, Radeljić, Arboleda, Kpozo; Kyabou, Diop; Traoré, Thill, Dulanto; Adama Traoré
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Omonia Nicosia:
- Predicted Lineup: Panagi; Lecina, Miletić, Lang, Gogic; Loizidou, Ansarifard, Charalambous; Kakoullis, Kamanzi, Gerson Rodrigues
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Group H
- Benfica vs. Maccabi Haifa (Tuesday, September 13th)
Benfica:
- Predicted Lineup: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Otamendi, Morato, Grimaldo; João Mário, Florentino, Enzo Fernández; Rafa Silva, Gonçalo Ramos, Neres
- Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
Maccabi Haifa:
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Predicted Lineup: Cohen; Sundgren, Batubinsika, Chery, Cornud; Abu Fani, Mohamed, Lavi; Pierrot, Haziza, Atzili
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Injury Report: No major injury concerns.
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Juventus vs. PSG (Tuesday, September 13th)
Juventus:
- Predicted Lineup: Szczęsny; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer, Alex Sandro; McKennie, Locatelli, Paredes; Di Maria, Vlahovic, Chiesa
- Injury Report: Paul Pogba is a doubt after picking up a hamstring injury.
PSG:
- Predicted Lineup: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Ramos, Mendes; Verratti, Vitinha, Ruiz; Neymar, Mbappé, Messi
- Injury Report: Kylian Mbappé is a doubt after picking up a thigh injury.
This is just a snapshot of the opening matchday, and plenty of twists and turns are sure to unfold across the various groups. Stay tuned for further updates and injury news as the week progresses.
