The finest clubs on the continent begin their bids for European glory this week, strutting their stuff in the opening group matches of the UEFA Champions League – live on ITV and Sky Sports.
There are intriguing ties in store for all five British clubs in the competition and with each side desperate to secure safe passage into the knockout rounds, each fixture from all six matchdays between now and early December will be crucial.
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester United, who last lifted the famous European trophy in 2008, are favourites to prevail against Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A.
Manchester City finished bottom of their group last season but, despite being drawn in Group D with holders Bayern Munich, they’ll hope to prosper against CSKA Moscow and Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
Chelsea, who lifted the trophy in 2012, should be confident of progressing from a Group E pool featuring Schalke, Basel and Steaua Bucharest,
However, Arsenal will have to fire against Marseille, Napoli and last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund to escape a tough Group F, while Celtic meet Barcelona again in the group phase for the second season in a row.
The Scottish champions also have former European superpowers AC Milan and Ajax in a stellar Group H.
All the drama and excitement from this season’s UEFA Champions League campaign will be covered as usual by ITV and Sky Sports.
ITV will continue to screen its first pick of Tuesday night matches throughout the competition, from the group stages to next May’s final in Lisbon.
Adrian Chiles will continue to host ITV’s live match coverage where he will be joined by regular pundits Roy Keane and Lee Dixon
Matt Smith will present highlights of the Tuesday night games in UEFA Champions League Extra Time on ITV at 10.35pm during each matchday.
Free-to-view highlights of Wednesday matches will be available online via the ITV Football website from Fridays.
Sky Sports will again screen up to 15 matches from each week of the group stages exclusively live.
In total, 129 games will be shown throughout the competition, including the final at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz in May 2014.
Jeff Stelling leads Sky’s live coverage on each matchday and will be joined by a variety of guests throughout the season, including Ruud Gullit, Graeme Souness, Jamie Redknapp and new Sky signing Jamie Carragher.
Along with at least live games on the main Sky Sports channels on Tuesday and Wednesday, viewers can also press the red button to access Sky’s unique interactive service and watch a host of other live games from around the continent on the same night.
Details of when and where to watch all the matchday 1 fixtures below:
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TUESDAY 17th SEPTEMBER
MANCHESTER UNITED v BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Kick-off: 19:45 | ITVManchester United bid to start their European campaign on a high against 2002 runners-up Bayer Leverkusen in David Moyes’s first competitive European match with the club.
The Premier League champions will hope to ease their way into the knock-out stages of the competition from a group which also contains Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad.
Last season United were knocked out by Real Madrid following a controversial red card for Nani.
The German team, managed by former Liverpool favourite Sami Hyypia, will hope they can emulate the achievements of domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich by reaching the final.
Following the loss of star player Andre Schurrle to Chelsea over the summer their key man may be Stefan Kiessling, who scored 27 goals last season.
Adrian Chiles introduces live coverage from Old Trafford on ITV and ITV HD from 7.30pm, where he will be joined in the studio by former Manchester United captain Roy Keane and Lee Dixon.
Commentary comes from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, while Gabriel Clarke conducts all the pre and post-match interviews.
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VIKTORIA PLZEN v MANCHESTER CITY
Kick-off: 19:45 | Sky Sports 2Manuel Pellegrini takes charge of his first Champions League game since joining Manchester City as they face Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
The Blues will be hoping to improve on their last two years in the competition after failing to get out of the group stage both times under former manager Roberto Mancini.
The Czech champions are making their second appearance in the group stage of the Champions League, but face a tough test with matches against defending European champions Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow still to come.
City desperately need an improved showing in this season’s competition, after failing to reach the knockout stages for two consecutive campaigns, and they finished bottom of their group last season without winning a match.
Live coverage of Manchester City’s clash from the Struncovy Sady Stadion will be shown on Sky Sports 2 at 7.00pm, presented by Jeff Stelling.
Sky Sports 4 will screen Real Madrid’s away encounter against Galatasaray, featuring Gareth Bale’s Champions League debut for his new club, as well as five other matches via the Red Button.
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WEDNESDAY 18th SEPTEMBER
CHELSEA v FC BASEL
Kick-off: 19:45 | Sky Sports 1Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign against Swiss champions FC Basel.
The Blues have been handed arguably the most straight forward draw of the British contingent with Schalke and Steaua Bucharest the other sides in their group.
Last season’s Europa League winners will expect a comfortable passage to the last 16, although the same outcome was cast somewhat prematurely last season as the then reigning European champions stumbled out of the competition in the group phase, ending Roberto Di Matteo’s stint as manager.
Basel have also garnered plenty of European experience in recent seasons and will aim to upset Jose Mourinho’s first Champions League match since returning to the hosts.
Jeff Stelling will present live coverage of the match on Sky Sports 1 from 6.00pm.
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AC MILAN v CELTIC
Kick-off: 19:45 | Sky Sports 2Scottish champions Celtic kick off their campaign with a tough away trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan.
The Bhoys have been drawn in what is widely regarded as the ‘Group of Death’, with Ajax and Barcelona the other two teams involved.
But Wednesday night’s hosts are not the European force they once were and Neil Lennon will look for his men to pick up points on their travels, knowing that none of the clubs will relish a visit to Celtic Park.
David Tanner introduces live coverage on Sky Sports 2 at 7.30pm.
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MARSEILLE v ARSENAL
Kick-off: 19:45 | Sky Sports 4Arsenal begin their latest assault at the Champions League at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Wednesday night.
Arsene Wenger came in for plenty of criticism during the summer transfer window, but he achieved his main objective in winning their qualifier against Fenerbahce and reaching this stage for the 16th consecutive year.
Marseille finished second in Ligue 1 last season, but have largely been overshadowed domestically by the newly acquired phenomenal spending power of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
David Jones presents live coverage on Sky Sports 4 from 7.30pm. A further five games will be available to watch via the Red Button, including Barcelona against Ajax from the Nou Camp.
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Tuesday 17th September
Manchester United v Bayer Leverkusen – Group A
Kick-off: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm ITV
Viktoria Plzen v Manchester City – Group D
Kick-off: 19:45 LIVE: 7.00pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 2
Galatasaray v Real Madrid – Group B
Kick-off: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 4
ITV′s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via the ITV football website – CLICK HERE
Sky Sports subscribers can follow every Champions League match via the Sky Sports Events Centre – CLICK HERE
Keep up to date with all the latest UEFA Champions League reports, goal flashes and results by following ITV Football on Twitter (@itvfootball) and Sky Sports dedicated UCL feed (@SkySportsCL).Online streaming available to UK users only
