Champions League: What to look out for: Matchday 4

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will have the opportunity to watch the matches of the fourth round of the Champions League. Rivals who met two weeks ago will measure their strength again, and some teams will have the opportunity to secure a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League 2023/24.

Champions League Upcoming Schedule

Group A

In this group, Bayern is very close to qualifying for the knockout phase of the Champions League. In the last round, the team from Munich won against Galatasaray 3-1. The home team had plenty of chances, but their misses were severely punished. If Bayern were to win this match two rounds before the end of the group stage, they would secure placement in the next stage.

Bayern are confident after their convincing win against Borussia and will be looking to get the job done. In the second match, Copenhagen and Manchester United meet. In the first leg at Old Trafford, United managed to save their lives in the last minute as Onana saved a penalty and the victory stayed in Manchester. Copenhagen is the only one without a win, and if they celebrate against United, they will still be able to hope for a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League.

Group B

After a break of several years, Arsenal returned to the Champions League, and if the result from two weeks ago against Sevilla repeats, they will be very close to qualifying for the next stage. This match comes to them after an embarrassing defeat against Newcastle, while Sevilla have not shone this season in Spain either. The Spanish team is known as a team that does well in the Europa League, where they have been multiple champions in the past, but they are not doing well in the Champions League.

If Sevilla pulls off a surprise at the Emirates, they could hope to advance to the knockout stage. Lens surprised everyone with a great placement in Ligue 1 last season, and so far they have made excellent results in the Champions League as well. They managed to beat Arsenal at home, while the remaining two matches were drawn. Their rival, like two weeks ago, will be PSV, which has only one defeat this season, albeit a very convincing one against Arsenal. In the Netherlands, PSV is the main favorite for the title because it has 11 wins from as many matches played.

Group C

Like every season, Real Madrid is one of the main favorites to win the Champions League. They had a great start to the competition as they achieved three victories, and if they beat Braga two rounds before the end this time as well, they will secure a place in the knockout phase. In the second match, Napoli and Union Berlin will compete. Napoli has a good chance, like Real Madrid, to be close to the knockout stage with two rounds before the end.

Union Berlin has been looking very bad lately and the fact that they haven’t beaten anyone in over two months shows how desperate they are. After a great last season, they are now at the bottom of the Bundesliga. Objectively, even before the start of the group stage of the Champions League, Real Madrid and Napoli were the main favorites for the passage of this group and managed to justify those roles.

Group D

Benfica recorded unexpectedly bad results in the first three rounds of the Champions League and almost had no chance of going to the knockout stage. Inter and Real Sociedad are very close to that ranking. If these two teams win this round, they will secure a place in the next round of this season’s edition of the Champions League.

This is one of the most inefficient groups this season as the teams were not in the mood for goals during the first three rounds. It is shocking that Benfica, along with Milan, is the only one that has not managed to score a goal so far. In this round, Real Sociedad will welcome Benfica. The team from Lisbon needs a win to keep the chance to continue the competition in Europe at least in the Europa League. The visitors from Lisbon are hoping that they can score the first goal of the season, while Red Bull Salzburg hopes that with a possible victory against Inter at home, they can return to the fight for the knockout stage.

Group E

Feyenoord returned to the Champions League and after the first three rounds is the leader in this group, but it is closely followed by Atletico Madrid and Lazio. Only Celtic did not show themselves in a good light, but the team from Glasgow can still return to the fight for placement in the next phase. That task will be difficult for them if they don’t win this round as well.

This time Celtic will host Atletico Madrid and the draw they achieved in Scotland gives them hope that they can cope with the team from Madrid who suffered a shock defeat against Las Palmas last weekend. Feyenoord defeated Lazio two weeks ago and now they will chase another victory in Rome. These teams, especially Lazio, do not shine in the domestic championships, and this group could certainly be interesting until the last round.

Group F

Milan, as we mentioned, is the only team besides Benfica that failed to score a goal this season in the Champions League. We can justify Milan because they play in the most difficult group, but not scoring a goal in three games is certainly not to be praised. Milan will try to get the first goal at home against PSG after they suffered a convincing defeat in Paris two weeks ago. Although he did not score, Milan managed to get two points and their fans will be hoping that they can get their first win in the Champions League this season, regardless of the convincing defeat against Mbappe and company two weeks ago.

Newcastle were given the role of big favorites against Borussia two weeks ago, but the away team managed to win. Borussia welcomes Newcastle after the debacle against Bayern in the Bundesliga, and Newcastle, buoyed by the victory against Arsenal, will try to improve the impression of two weeks ago.

Group G

As expected, Manchester City had a good start in the Champions League in which they are defending the title won last season. All three times the defending champion won with the same score of 3-1. If they beat Young Boys at home like two weeks ago, they will secure a place in the next round two rounds before the end of the group stage. The closest to that goal from this group is Red Bull Leipzig, who will also try to secure a place in the next round with a victory in Belgrade against Red Star.

The German team is in a slight decline in form because they were eliminated by Wolfsburg in the cup, and last weekend they were defeated by one of the weaker teams from the Bundesliga, Mainz. They are expecting a fiery visit in Belgrade against a team that managed to shock Liverpool at home a few seasons ago in the season when this team became European champions.

Group H

As expected, Barcelona did not have too many problems in the first three rounds, so they, like Manchester City, will try to secure a place in the next phase by winning this round. Barcelona will visit Shakhtar in Donetsk. The team from Ukraine is not without chances to continue the competition either, so they will try to make a big surprise, although due to the well-known situation in Ukraine, they are denied playing at home.

Two weeks ago, Porto lost at halftime against Antwerp, but in the second half, they were in a very good mood and blew the home team away with four goals. The Belgian team proved to be undersized for this level of competition, but with a potential shocking victory in Porto, they could get back into the game, although it is questionable how realistic it is to happen, despite Porto not shining this season at home.