After a week of intense international fixtures, Europe’s elite clubs return to UEFA Champions League action as the group stages reaches its halfway point on October 22-23.
A busy week for British clubs begins on Tuesday night as Arsenal entertain last season’s beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund.
Managed by the charismatic Jurgen Klopp and powered by the goals of Robert Lewandowski, the German giants will provide a stern test for Arsene Wenger’s side.
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea also face German opposition in the form of Schalke, who are top of group E with two wins out of two so far.
The Blues made a poor start to their European campaign, suffering defeat to Basel, but swept aside Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the following game.
Celtic also welcome four-time European Cup winners Ajax to Celtic Park.
The two Manchester clubs are in action on Wednesday night, kicking off early when Manchester City attempt to hang on to the coat-tails of reigning champions Bayern Munich by winning in the difficult surroundings at CSKA Moscow.
From Russia, it’s back to Manchester to catch United’s bid to go top of Group A outright as they take on dangerous La Liga opponents Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.
With the Red Devils struggling to defend their Premier League crown early on, European competition may well provide them with a welcome distraction.
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 chosen 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 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 3 fixtures below:
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| TUESDAY 22nd OCTOBER |
ARSENAL v Borussia DortmundGroup F |
19:45 |
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Arsenal could take one huge step towards qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating Borussia Dortmund, live on ITV.
The Gunners have been victorious in their first two outings against Marseille and Napoli, but will face toughest test against last year’s competition runners-up.
With the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus set to start for the Germans, Arsene Wenger will know it will be in a for a difficult night at the Emirates.
Arsenal are seeking a third straight win in the competition this season, but they face a tough test against Jurgen Klopp’s impressive side that only narrowly lost the Champions League Final to Bayern Munich at Wembley Stadium in May.
Adrian Chiles introduces ITV’s live coverage from the Emirates Stadium alongside former Gunners striker Ian Wright, plus regular ITV pundits Roy Keane and Lee Dixon.
Commentary comes from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, while Gabriel Clarke conducts interviews and reports from the touchline.
Schalke v CHELSEAGroup E |
19:45 |
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Sky Sports leads its Tuesday night coverage from the Veltins Arena in Germany as Chelsea travel to face Schalke.
The Blues’ shock home defeat to Basel in the opening week has allowed Schalke to open up a three-point lead at the top of the standings.
Following on from their convincing victory over Cardiff in the Premier League on Saturday, Jose Mourinho’s men will be keen to avoid allowing that gap to become any bigger by picking up a positive result tonight.
Live coverage of this Group E clash from Germany begins on Sky Sports 2 at 7.00pm, presented by Jeff Stelling.
CELTIC v AjaxGroup H |
19:45 |
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Celtic will be looking to secure their first victory of the competition when they welcome Dutch champions Ajax to Celtic Park.
As AC Milan meet Barcelona at the San Siro, both managers will look at this fixture as an opportunity to close the gap on second place, while defeat would leave them facing an uphill struggle to reach the knockout stages.
David Jones and John Collins present live coverage on Sky Sports 3 from 7.30pm.
Over on Sky Sports 4, viewers can see the fascinating clash between AC Milan and Barcelona, plus a four games will be available to watch via the Red Button.
| WEDNESDAY 23rd OCTOBER |
CSKA Moscow v MANCHESTER CITYGroup D |
17:00 |
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Wednesday night’s action on Sky Sports kicks off in Moscow as CSKA play host to Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City at the Arena Khimki.
City will be looking to bounce back from their 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Matchday 2, where goalkeeper Joe Hart’s performance was called out for considerable scrutiny among fans and pundits.
Having been totally outclassed by the Germans in front of their own fans, Pellegrini’s men will be hoping to keep pace with the reigning champions by securing a victory here, but face a difficult fixture against a side that also has three points from their two games, following a 3-2 win over Viktoria Plzen in St Petersburg last time out.
CSKA are also more than capable of causing City problems in Moscow, but City can draw confidence from their opening-round victory away at Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Second-half goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Touré and Sergio Agüero saw them run out convincing 3-0 winners.
Jeff Stelling will present live coverage of the match, featuring extensive previews and analysis of all eight of Wednesday night’s games, on Sky Sports 1 from 4.30pm, alongside special guests.
MANCHESTER UTD v Real SociedadGroup A |
19:45 |
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Despite an indifferent start to the season domestically, Manchester United are unbeaten so far in Europe and welcome Real Sociedad to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
United will be looking for a second successive home victory after Wayne Rooney helped them overcome Bayer Leverkusen on matchday one, which was followed by a 1-1 draw away at Shakhtar Donetsk.
The previously wantaway striker seemed to be back to his best, reaching 200 goals for the Red Devils and ensuring David Moyes made a winning start to his first full Champions League campaign.
Sociedad didn’t fare quite so well in their opening fixture, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
They certainly proved themselves to be a threat, though, hitting the bar and forcing Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov into a number of fine saves.
Jeff Stelling and guests present live coverage on Sky Sports 1 and Sky 3D from 7.30pm. The game will also be simulcast on Sky 1.
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ITV′s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via the ITV football website.
Sky Sports subscribers can follow every Champions League match via the Sky Sports Events Centre.
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
