This season’s UEFA Champions League group stage has reached the halfway point and both ITV and Sky Sports have live coverage of some crunch matches this week as the race for qualification nears the business end.
Matchday 4 serves up a repeat of the previous round of fixtures and all 32 teams will regroup and prepare to mount their final challenge in search of progressin to the knock-out stages in the new year.
The clash between two former European champions in Real Madrid and Liverpool promises to be a mouthwatering prospect on Tuesday evening and is undoubtedly the pick of the matchday four games and fans can watch the match live and free on ITV.
Surprisingly, these famous clubs have only played each other three times before this season – Liverpool won the European Cup Final in Paris in 1981 and also came out on top of both legs of a last-16 tie in 2009.
This time round Real’s squad includes two former Premier League stars in Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, both of whom scored in last season’s final, as well as stand-out World Cup players in Sami Khedira, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema.
Brendan Rodgers has lost the infamous Luis Suarez after his World Cup antics, but Liverpool’s ranks still include Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, the evergreen Steven Gerrard and the unpredictable Mario Balotelli.
Sky Sports has live coverage of the other three English sides in action this week, including Arsenal’s clash against Belgian champions Anderlecgt, followed on Wednesday by a crucial fixture for Manchester City against CSKA Moscow, as the Manuel Pellegrini’s Champions League season hangs by a thread, plus Chelsea’s trip to Slovenia to play Maribor.
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 4 action can be found below.
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| TUESDAY 4th NOVEMBER |
Real Madrid v LIVERPOOLGroup B |
19:45 |
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Liverpool play their toughest group match against reigning European champions Real Madrid and ITV has exclusively live free-to-air coverage of this crunch Champions League fixture.
After just three points from their first three games, the Reds face an uphill challenge to qualify for the last 16 and Brendan Rodgers’ side were humbled at Anfield last time out as Cristiano Ronaldo and company ran riot at Anfield in a 3-0 win.
Real Madrid are the current holders and have won the Champions League and its forerunner, the European Cup, a record ten times, while Liverpool’s name has appeared on the trophy on five occasions, the last time in 2005.
So far in this season’s group stage, Real have won all three of their games, while Liverpool beat Ludogorets on opening night but have lost their last two European games, having also been beaten away by Basel.
The Reds will be hoping to come away with something from the Bernabeu Stadium if they are to maintain any hope of progressing to the knockout stage of the tournament in the new year.
Adrian Chiles presents ITV’s live coverage of this blue-riband Champions League match is joined for expert analysis and comment from pitchside at the famous Bernabeu Stadium by Steve McManaman, Paul Scholes and Lee Dixon.
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.
ARSENAL v AnderlechtGroup D |
17:00 |
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After a shaky start to the season, Arsenal appear to be finding form in the league and in Europe and will hope to continue this upward curve in results against Belgian champions Anderlecht.
The Gunners left it ever-so late in Belgium a fortnight ago and had it not been for the last-gasp goals from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski, the Gunners could have been dragged into battle to secure qualification behind Jurgen Klopp’s impressive Dortmund side.
Instead, Arsene Wenger sees his side lying second in Group D, three points adrift of the Germans but, more importantly, five points clear of Tuesday’s opponents and Galatasaray with qualification two wins away.
Alexis Sanchez has played a pivotal role at the Emirates since his summer move from Barcelona and will look to link up with fellow summer arrival Danny Welbeck as he looks to add to the hat-trick he netted when Galatasaray visited London in October.
Jeff Stelling and studio guests presents live coverage on Sky Sports 5, the network’s new home of Champions League football, with coverage beginning at 7.00pm ahead of a 7.45pm kick-off.
An additional four other live games are available to choose from on the red button on Sky Sports 5 at 7.45pm, while the tea-time kick-off between Zenit and Bayer Leverkusen is also live on Sky Sports 5 (k/o 5.00pm).
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| WEDNESDAY 5th NOVEMBER |
MANCHESTER CITY v CSKA MoscowGroup E |
19:45 |
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Premier League champions Manchester City must take all three points from their meeting with CSKA Moscow on Wednesday to stand any chance of reaching the last 16.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side find themselves third in Group E, seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich and two behind Roma, after two draws and a defeat from their opening three fixtures.
CSKA travel to the Etihad having reduced a two-goal deficit on Matchday 3 to deny City victory behind closed doors, after UEFA punished the Russian supporters’ behaviour during their game with Bayern Munich.
Nearly 50,000 fans, however, will be in attendance in Manchester for a game that City must win if they are to have a realistic chance of keeping their Champions League destiny in their own hands.
Jeff Stelling and studio guests presents live coverage of this Group E clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sky Sports 5, the network’s new home of Champions League football, with coverage beginning at 6.00pm.
Elsewhere, Sky Sports 5 red button will also have coverage from the rest of the nights ties including Barcelona’s trip to Ajax, as the Catalonian’s look to bounce back from their 3-1 El Clasico defeat at the Bernabeu, as well as the other game in Manchester City’s group between Bayern Munich and Roma.
Maribor v CHELSEAGroup G |
19:45 |
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Fresh off the back of their 6-0 demolition of Maribor at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea travel to Slovenia looking to cement their position at the top of Group G.
With tougher tests in store for the Blues as the season progresses, don’t be surprised if you see the deployment of fringe players as Mourinho attempts to navigate the tie, get three points and concentrate on Saturday’s London derby with Queens Park Rangers.
Maribor, who defeated Celtic en route to the Champions League group stage, will surely have other ideas and have shown grit and resiliency throughout their campaign and draws with Schalke and Sporting mean they could prove a tricky obstacle to overcome at home.
Full live coverage of this match from Slovenia 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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