Europe’s elite are back in action this week with the third matchday of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League and fans can follow every match as always on ITV and Sky Sports.
The stand-out contest of the week sees Liverpool welcome reigning champions Real Madrid to what promises to be boisterous Anfield on Wednesday night and Sky Sports will be in Merseyside to show this mouth-watering contest exclusively live.
The Reds, back among Europe’s elite after a five-year exile, face the Spanish giants on their return to the competition and will hope to repeat their previous exploits against the Galaticos, having beaten them 4-0 on their previous meeting on Merseyside back in 2009.
Two more English sides will compete live on Sky Sports this week, including Manchester City’s trip to CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, where Manuel Pellegrini’s side face the unusual situation of playing an away match behind closed doors due to disciplinary measures forced upon their opponents, while Arsenal will hope to spark their European season into life in Belgium as they take on Anderlecht on Wednesday.
ITV has chosen to screen Chelsea’s home match against Maribor on Tuesday night, where Jose Mourinho’s men are expected to continue their impressive form and make home advantage count against the Slovenian champions.
Watching every moment from this season’s UEFA Champions League live across ITV and Sky Sports from the autumn’s group stage fixtures to the final in May.
Both broadcasters, who have shared coverage of the competition since 2003, are in their final season covering live matches from Europe’s premier club competition before the rights pass over to rivals BT Sport from 2015/16.
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 which will be held at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Adrian Chiles will continue to host ITV’s live match coverage where he will be joined by regular pundit Lee Dixon and new signing Paul Scholes, who won the competition with Manchester United in 1999 and 2008, while match commentary will be led by Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.
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, while ITV′s live match coverage, as well additional video clips, interviews and analysis, is available to watch for free via ITV Player.
Sky Sports will again screen a total 129 games throughout the competition, including 15 of the 16 fixtures from each matchday of the group stage, ties from every round of the knockout phase and the final itself, shared with ITV.
Subscribers will be treated to over 11,500 minutes of drama as the world’s greatest football talents take to the pitch to begin their quest to reach the showpiece final next May.
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 Jamie Carragher.
New for this season, all Sky televised Champions League games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be broadcast on Sky Sports 5, as well as online via Sky Go.
Additional live games can be found via the red button on Sky Sports’ interactive service, where fans can watch a host of other teams in action from around the continent on the same night.
With the Sky Sports for iPad app, fans can choose which game they want to watch at the tip of your fingers, allowing them to navigate their way through all the key moments, view player or match statistics and watch match-related video.
Also, ‘Sky Sports 360’ returns for users to relive goals and other key moments during live play, while the functionality also gives fans the ability to choose video from more than 20 different camera angles during selected matches.
Keep up to date with all the latest UEFA Champions League reports, goal flashes and results from both broadcasters by following ITV Football on Twitter @itvfootball or via Sky Sports dedicated feed @SkySportsCL.
Details of when and where to watch all the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 action can be found below.
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| TUESDAY 21st OCTOBER |
CHELSEA v MariborGroup G |
19:45 |
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Jose Mourinho’s side entertain Maribor of Slovenia in their latest Group G match at Stamford Bridge, where the Blues will expect to claim three points.
He will hope to build on his team’s victory away to Sporting Lisbon three weeks ago, following the 1-1 draw in their opening match of the campaign at home to FC Schalke.
Diego Costa has been in prolific goalscoring form since his move to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid and will pose the biggest threat to Maribor’s defence.
Chelsea’s strong domestic form and four points out of a possible six in their European matches so far leave them as favourites to progress.
But the Slovenian champions cannot be underestimated, having eliminated Celtic in the play-off round and claimed draws in both of their previous group games.
Adrian Chiles presents live coverage from Stamford Bridge alongside the channel’s regular pundit Lee Dixon and former Chelsea assistant coach Steve Clarke.
Match commentary comes from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, while Gabriel Clarke conducts interviews and reports from the touchline.
Alongside coverage on ITV and ITV HD, you can also watch the action online as it happens via the ITV football website and ITV Player.
CSKA Moscow v MANCHESTER CITYGroup E |
17:00 |
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Manchester City and CSKA Moscow have been drawn together in the group stage for the second consecutive season and the pair meet at the Lokomotiv Stadium in the early kick off on Tuesday.
City will be hoping for a repeat of their victory in last season’s corresponding fixture, having failed to register a win so far in this season’s competition, in a match which will be played behind closed doors due to disciplinary measures forced upon their Russian opponents.
With their position in Group E looking precarious even at this early stage, Manuel Pellegrini’s men face another uphill task to qualify for the last 16, with European heavyweights Bayern Munich and Roma dominating the top two positions so far.
Jeff Stelling and studio guests presents live coverage of the tea-time kick-off on Sky Sports 5, the network’s new home of Champions League football, with coverage beginning at 4.30pm.
Later in the evening, Sky Sports 5 will screen Barcelona’s home tie against Ajax, with the other game in Manchester City’s group – Roma v Bayern Munich, live on Sky Sports 1 at the same time.
An additional four other live games are available to choose from on the red button on Sky Sports 5 (k/o 7.45pm), including Schalke v Sporting Lisbon and Porto v Athletic Bilbao.
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| WEDNESDAY 22nd OCTOBER |
LIVERPOOL v Real MadridGroup B |
19:45 |
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The pick of the week’s Champions league ties takes place at Anfield where an electric atmosphere is expected for the visit of Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Liverpool and Madrid have met on just three occasions in Europe and the Spaniards somewhat surprisingly have failed to find the net against the Reds in those meetings.
They were in fact on the receiving end of a five-goal thrashing when the sides met over two legs in the round of 16 back in 2009.
Real Madrid’s plethora of international stars, including Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, will be among the names looking to end that barren run against a Liverpool side who have yet to rediscover the league form they displayed last season so far.
Ronaldo finished top scorer in last season’s competition and the Portuguese will be braced to face the wrath of the Kop after a six-year spell with the Reds’arch-rivals Manchester United.
Jeff Stelling and studio guests presents live coverage of this highly-anticipated Group B clash at Anfield on Sky Sports 5, the network’s new home of Champions League football, with coverage beginning at 6.00pm.
There are six more games via the red button on Sky Sports 5, including the other game in Liverpool’s group between Ludogorets and Basel.
Anderlecht v ARSENALGroup D |
19:45 |
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Arsenal are looking for their first away win of their European campaign and will hope this comes against Belgian champions Anderlecht.
Arsene Wenger’s men have been handed a relatively favourable draw and are expected to qualify along with Borussia Dortmund, especially following their comfortable victory against Galatasaray in their last European fixture.
But having suffered defeat to Dortmund on matchday one, coupled with a disappointing recent run of league results, the Gunners will view this and every remaining fixture as a must-win game in their battle to reach the knockout phase.
Full live coverage of this match at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium will be shown on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm. It will also be simulcast on Sky 1, available to non-Sky Sports subscribers.
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