Five talking points ahead of the Champions League action

In partnership with

The Football Faithful

·30 September 2025

Five talking points ahead of the Champions League action

The Champions League returns for matchday two this week, as Liverpool, Barcelona, PSG, and Spurs all face key clashes on the European stage.

Five talking points ahead of the Champions League action:

Jose Mourinho returns to Chelsea

Chelsea welcome a familiar figure back to Stamford Bridge as Jose Mourinho’s Benfica take on Enzo Maresca’s side on Tuesday night.

OneFootball Videos

The Special One’s shadow looms large over the club this week amid a run of poor form. The Blues are looking for their first win this month, against the manager who guided them to three Premier League titles across two stints.

The days when Chelsea played like true world beaters feels a long time ago now. They may be world champions, for whatever that is worth, but after losing consecutive league games it looks like this will be another year in which they don’t challenge for the title, despite their massive spending in recent years.

Chelsea came out 4-1 winners from their meeting Benfica in the Club World Cup this past summer, although the Portuguese giants did take them to extra time. They are favoured to win this tie, but could the Mourinho factor give the visitors an edge?

The west London outfit hope not; Maresca can’t really afford to lose this one after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on the opening week of this year’s competition.

Read – Chelsea star admits players, not Maresca at fault for poor form

A clash of contenders

On Wednesday we will finally get the matchup that we should have seen in last season’s final as Barcelona host PSG at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

Barça’s defensive frailties ultimately cost them in the semi-final defeat to Inter Milan, and given how the Italians fared in the decider, Hansi Flick’s men may have avoided a drubbing of their own in Munich.

They could be facing Paris at a good time, though. The reigning champions recently lost to Marseille and have not been their typically dominant selves against Ligue 1 opposition, despite topping the table.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are in scorching hot form; unbeaten in all competitions, they have scored 23 goals in eight matches. This will be a very early test for Flick’s side and a measure of their credentials for the ultimate glory.

Read – The quickest players to 100 goals for one club as Kane overtakes Ronaldo

David vs Goliath

All eyes will be on that titanic clash, but elsewhere two giants of the European game will travel to face the tournament’s supposed whipping boys.

Real Madrid make the arduous trip to Kazakhstan to take on Kairat Almaty, while Bayern Munich head to Cyprus for a meeting with Pafos FC.

Real and Bayern have 21 Champions League titles between them, while Kairat and Pafos are competing at this level for the first time ever.

These matches are expected to only go one way, but it has only been four years since Real were shocked by Moldovan outfit FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the group stage. Bayern are only two years removed from an embarrassing defeat to third-tier Saarbrucken in the German Cup, so neither club is a stranger to unlikely upsets.

Read – The greatest shocks in Champions League history

Welcome to Hell, Liverpool

Liverpool make the trip to Galatasaray for just the third time in Champions League history this Tuesday as they look to bounce back from defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend.

The Turkish outfit’s fans have become known for creating a febrile atmosphere on these European nights ever since their famous win over Manchester United in 1993.

The Gala fans welcomed the United players at the airport with banners reading “Welcome to Hell”, and they certainly delivered on that front.

A win here would be another shock on that scale. Liverpool are prohibitive favourites, despite their unconvincing performances this season. Galatasaray may be dominating the Super Lig after signing Leroy Sane and Victor Osimhen, but they were trounced 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt on the opening week.

The Champions League might quickly become a hellscape for Okan Buruk’s team if Liverpool find their scoring touch.

Read – Galatasaray vs Liverpool match preview and team news

Spurs head back to the Arctic Circle

On their way to Europa League glory last season, Tottenham Hotspur had to go through Bodo/Glimt. It was a tricky tie against the Norwegian upstarts who have taken many scalps in Europe in recent years.

Spurs won the quarter-final clash 5-1 on aggregate, ensuring Glimt have never beaten an English side, losing all five of their encounters.

Thomas Frank should guide his side to another victory here, although he would probably prefer not to have to travel to the Arctic Circle this week. His squad will make a 6,200km round trip, before heading to Leeds this Saturday.

Read – Bayern Munich chief calls Newcastle ‘idiots’ over club record transfer