Champions League Wednesday: Liverpool, Ajax & Bayern, Oh My! | OneFootball

With all apologies to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz franchise, this is quite a line-up. I’m not going to give the scheduling gurus at UEFA any points for today’s set of fixtures, as they completely overloaded the late spot with all the good games.

Early Games

Take your pick of underdog/debutante for this time slot.

Slavia Prague vs. Bodo/Glimt

Kickoff: 12:45 PM ET Fortuna Arena, Prague, CzechiaStreaming on Paramount+

Norway’s Arctic darlings Bodo/Glimt will visit Slavia Prague, where the beer is one-twentieth the cost and four times better! Have a few of those and you won’t care about the score!

Olympiacos vs. Pafos

Kickoff: 12:45 PM ET Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, GreeceStreaming on Paramount+

So a Cypriot team walks into a Greek stadium… no it’s not the opening to an improper joke, but a factual description of this fixture. Pafos is one of those minnow-makes-good stories sports journalists love. They won the Cyprus league, then improbably advanced through the second and third qualifying rounds. In the final play-off, they defeated Red Star Belgrade 3 – 2 on aggregate. We already saw Qarabağ notch an unheralded upset of Benfica, will Pafos be next?

Late Games

Ajax Amsterdam vs. Internazionale

Kickoff: 3:00 PM ET Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam, NetherlandsStreaming on Paramount+

It’s great to see Ajax back in the Champions League. The venerable Dutch club has had a rocky few years, but appears to have plugged the leaks in the dyke and stabilized the ship. Yeah, I’m mixing metaphors. If this was an away fixture I’d be bearish on Ajax’s chances, but at home they could pull off the win. They will have watched PSV’s embarrassing defeat to USG met leedvermaak (the Dutch version of schadenfreude), and desperately want to avoid the same.

Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea

Kickoff: 3:00 PM ET Allianz Arena, München, GermanyStreaming on Paramount+

In an afternoon of fixtures filled with top teams, this is the grand kahuna. Two storied clubs with impeccable pedigree meeting this early in the tournament offers all sorts of narrative angles. Despite this being the first of eight group stage games, neither manager will offer anything less than their best side.

Liverpool vs. Atlético Madrid

Kickoff: 3:00 PM ET Anfield, Liverpool, EnglandStreaming on Paramount+

Prior to Saturday’s match against Villareal, where they won 2 – 0, this fixture had to be looming large in Diego Simone’s consciousness. A trip to Anfield is daunting anytime; coming on the heels of no wins in La Liga would be especially rough. Happily this isn’t the case, though the win will not make their task any easier. Liverpool manager Arne Slot has a two-deep world-class roster to pick starters from; expect Alexander Isak to make his debut in this one.

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atalanta

Kickoff: 3:00 PM ET Parc des Princes, Paris, FranceStreaming on Paramount+

I’m trying to envision any scenario where Paris Saint-Germain loses this one, and I can’t. They’re simply too stacked, and while Atalanta are tricky and stout defensively this should be a PSG win. Mind you, most pundits thought the same last year, and PSG only secured advancement in the final two games of the stage. So what do we know?