Just two more matchdays remain in this season’s UEFA Champions League group phase and both ITV and Sky Sports have live coverage of some pivotal matches this week for all four English sides involved as the race for qualification reaches the sharp end.
Matchday five’s offering sees Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal continue their bids to reach the knockout stage, with the prospects of the two London clubs looking far healthy than their Premier League counterparts in the north-west.
City’s hopes of progressing are hanging by a thread as they take on the might of German champions Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium, which has been chosen by ITV as their live match choice on Tuesday night.
The Sky Blues need to beat the 2013 winners and win the next game against Roma to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the knockout stages after a 2-1 home defeat to CSKA Moscow in early November continued their winless streak in Group E.
Bayern, meanwhile, have taken maximum points from the group so far with the most eye-catching result being a 7-1 victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in October.
Jerome Boateng scored a late winner for Bayern when the two sides met in Munich in September but, with the Germans already assured of top spot in the group, City fans will hope Pep Guardiola rests a few key men.
Liverpool’s Champions League prospects also look equally bleak and even an away win against Ludogorets on matchday five may not be enough come the end of the group phase in December, if Basel manage to win at least one of their two remaining games.
Both London clubs have almost secured their places in the round of 16 next spring, with Chelsea looking to stamp their place at the top of the group against Schalke, while Arsenal will want to put the nightmare of three weeks ago against Anderlecht, when they let slip a 3-0 lead at the Emirates, when they take on Borussia Dortmund, who are struggling in the Bundesliga but riding high in Europe, as currently top the group.
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 5 action can be found below.
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| TUESDAY 25th NOVEMBER |
MANCHESTER CITY v Bayern MunichGroup E |
19:45 |
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Manchester City play their penultimate Champions League group match against Bayern Munich, exclusively live on ITV, with their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages hanging in the balance.
They must win their last two games, starting tonight against the German champions, who have already assured top spot in the group, and City fans will hope Bayern coach Pep Guardiola rests a few key men for the clash on Tuesday night.
Despite the huge sums of money ploughed into the club, City are finding it tough in Europe and also are in an inconsistent run of form in domestic competitions.
Their opponents, who have won the Champions League, and its earlier incarnation the European Cup, on five occasions, are riding high at the top of the Bundesliga.
Bayern currently top Group E with four straight wins, while City’s chances of progressing to the knock-out stage are looking bleak after their 2-1 home defeat by CSKA Moscow, but since the German champions have already qualified as group winners, City fans will be hoping the visitors will lack their customary motivation to win.
Adrian Chiles presents ITV’s live coverage from the Etihad Stadium where he is joined for expert analysis and comment in the studio by Paul Scholes, Lee Dixon and Joleon Lescott.
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, fans can also watch and follow the action online as it happens via the ITV football website and ITV Player.
Schalke v CHELSEAGroup G |
17:00 |
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Chelsea travel to Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke on Matchday 5, a side now managed by Roberto Di Matteo, who led the Blues to European glory back in 2012.
Jose Mourinho’s side have gone unbeaten in their first three games and currently top Group G ahead of their German opposition.
Schalke are the only side to have denied them all points, though, with Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar cancelling out an early strike from Cesc Fabregas on matchday one.
But the presence of former Chelsea player and boss Di Matteo in the Schalke dugout will no doubt rekindle memories for Chelsea fans of their incredible 2012 Champions League triumph.
Chelsea, in their 13th group stage campaign and 12th in a row since 2003, have topped their section in eight of their last 11 seasons, qualifying as runners-up in two other years, and they’ll be hoping for victory in Germany to secure their place at the top of the group.
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 in Manchester City’s group between CSKA Moscow v Roma is also live on Sky Sports 5 (k/o 5.00pm).
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| WEDNESDAY 26th NOVEMBER |
Ludogorets v LIVERPOOLGroup B |
19:45 |
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Liverpool are playing for their Champions League survival on Wednesday night when they travel to Sofia’s Vasil Levski National Stadium to face Ludogorets, live on Sky Sports 5.
Both teams sit joint bottom of Group B with three points each and need a victory to retain realistic hope of overtaking second-placed Basel, with table toppers Real Madrid convincingly through to the knockout phase already.
The Reds have not scored in the competition since beating the Bulgarian side 2-1 in a tense matchday one encounter at Anfield back in September, adding further pressure on manager Brendan Rodgers, who came under fire for his team selection ahead of their last European encounter against Real Madrid.
Victory in Sofia is essential for Rodgers side if they are to have any chance of progressing through to the knockout phase, while they also be hoping Real Madrid do them a favour by beating Basel at the Bernabeu.
Jeff Stelling and studio guests presents live coverage of this pivotal Group B clash in Bulgaria 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 night’s ties, including Spanish champions Atletico
Madrid entertaining Olympiakos, Juventus are away to Malmo, while Real Madrid play Basel in the other game in Liverpool’s group on Sky Sports 3.
ARSENAL v Borussia DortmundGroup D |
19:45 |
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Arsenal will be hoping to follow their matchday five opponents Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League knockout rounds and avoiding defeat on Wednesday night will guarantee progress to the last 16.
Despite their lapse last time out against Anderlecht, when they let a three goal lead slip at home,, Arsenal need only a point to reach the next phase for the 15th consecutive season as they face the 2013 Champions League runners-up at the Emirates.
Dortmund have been extremely poor domestically but remarkably impeccable in Europe, comfortably winning all of their opening four games and scoring plenty of goals in the process, booking their place in the last 16 in the previous matchday with a 4-1 win over Galatasaray.
Two of their 13 goals so far came against Arsene Wenger’s men in the reverse fixture on the opening matchday of the campaign, with Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hitting the target either side of half-time.
Full live coverage of this match from north London 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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