Data Analysis
Champions League Tonight: Perfect City Meet PSG, and Real Madrid's Spotless Record in Rome
Nine games on the second night of matchday two: a heavyweight clash in Manchester, a 9-0 history in Rome, Como's first away night in the competition and Dortmund heading north of the Arctic Circle.
Last night set the bar: Lamine Yamal turned Barcelona's night in Istanbul, Club Brugge won 4-3 at San Siro and Bayern were held in Stavanger. Tonight the other half of the league phase plays its second game, with two early kick-offs at 18:45 CEST and seven more at 21:00 CEST.
The big one: Manchester City vs Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester City vs PSG is a meeting of two sides who won comfortably on the opening night, but they arrive in very different shape. City have won every game they have played this season: six out of six in the Premier League, 2-0 at Porto in this competition, and wins at Old Trafford and, on Sunday, 3-0 at Anfield. Erling Haaland already has six league goals.
PSG are only sixth in Ligue 1 after a slow start, but they have won their last three league games, and their opening night was a statement: 6-1 against Slovan Bratislava, with a Ferran Torres hat-trick and two goals and two assists from Ousmane Dembélé. The last time these two met, in January 2025, PSG won 4-2 in Paris; City won both legs of the 2021 semi-final.
The number: 9-0
That is the aggregate score of every competitive meeting between Roma and Real Madrid. Real have won all four, twice 2-0 in the 2016 round of 16 and then 3-0 and 2-0 in the 2018/19 group stage, without conceding once. Roma will try to change that at the Olimpico in tonight's game with a defence that has let in only three goals in six Serie A matches, although they will be without goalkeeper Mile Svilar. Real Madrid are missing Éder Militão, Ferland Mendy, Raúl Asencio and Rodrygo.
Did you know?
- Two players in action tonight scored hat-tricks on matchday one: PSG's Ferran Torres and Stuttgart's Ermedin Demirović.
- Como, in their first Champions League campaign, play their first away game in the competition tonight, at De Kuip. They won their debut 4-1 against RB Leipzig.
- Bodø/Glimt host Dortmund on the artificial pitch of the Aspmyra Stadion, north of the Arctic Circle. The only previous meeting, in Dortmund last December, ended 2-2.
- Shakhtar Donetsk and AEK Athens have never met in a competitive match. Their only game was a friendly in 2023, which AEK won 5-0.
Liverpool's missing strikers
The early kick-off in Linz comes at an awkward time for Liverpool. They are ninth in the Premier League, were beaten 3-0 at home by City on Sunday, and travel to LASK without Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo, as well as Dominik Szoboszlai. LASK lost 1-0 in Athens on matchday one; Liverpool won both of the clubs' Europa League meetings in 2023/24, 3-1 in Linz and 4-0 at Anfield.
Como's first trip
The other early game is Feyenoord vs Como. Feyenoord were beaten 5-1 in Barcelona on the opening night but are unbeaten at the top of the Eredivisie, with 27 goals scored in eight games. Como are seventh in Serie A and drew 0-0 with Roma at the weekend, and they will be without Moise Kean.
The rest of the night
- Real Betis vs Porto: Porto have won all eight Primeira Liga games but lost at home to City on matchday one, and centre-back Jan Bednarek is suspended. Betis, third in La Liga, have won all four home league games.
- Bodø/Glimt vs Dortmund: Bodø were beaten 5-0 in Munich on matchday one and are without the suspended Odin Bjørtuft. Dortmund are second and unbeaten in the Bundesliga.
- Aston Villa vs Fenerbahçe: Villa are 16th in the Premier League but won 3-2 at Club Brugge, and they beat Fenerbahçe 1-0 in Istanbul in the Europa League in January.
- Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart: Slovan were beaten 6-1 in Paris; Stuttgart won 3-1 in Bratislava in January 2025.
- Shakhtar Donetsk vs AEK Athens: Shakhtar lead the Ukrainian Premier League and AEK are unbeaten in Greece.