Undoubtedly, the match most fans will be watching this evening is the clash of the titans taking place at Barcelona’s Camp Nou – the Catalan giants are welcoming European Royalty from Italy, AC Milan, in their first European fixture since they followed up winning the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final in Wembley with a 2011 UEFA Super Cup victory over Porto at Monaco’s Stade Louis II.
There are plenty of other big teams taking their part this evening, though, including Chelsea, who welcome German side Bayer Leverkusen to Stamford Bridge.
Last year’s UEFA Europa League victors, FC Porto, will be looking to get into the knockout phase of this, the big brother competition this season: they’ll be keen to make a good start at home to perennial European competitors, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Some Champions League novices are also going to be experiencing the tournament: APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus will host Zenit St Petersburg, while Plzen, who won the Czech league in 2010/11, will line up for their first ever Champions League encounter against BATE Borisov.
Another important match between more seasoned campaigners who are perhaps below their historical best at present sees Borussia Dortmund take on Arsenal, with the latter having had a particularly poor start to 2011/12, which includes an 8-2 loss away at Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League.
In the remaining fixtures, Spanish side Valencia travel to Genk in Group E (which also includes Chelsea and Leverkusen), while Olympiakos entertain Marseille in Dortmund and Arsenal’s open Group F.
Full fixtures for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League action are below.
UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Group Stage Fixtures – Tuesday, 13th September 2011
All times in Central European Time (CET). Home side is first team listed.
- Apoel Nicosia v Zenit St Petersburg – Group G – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Barcelona v AC Milan – Group H – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal – Group F – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Chelsea v Bayer Leverkusen – Group E – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- FC Porto v Shakhtar Donetsk – Group G – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Genk v Valencia – Group E – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Olympiakos v Marseille – Group F – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45
- Plzen v BATE Borisov – Group H – Kick-Off (CET) 20:45