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A newfound rivalry, a hero's return and a Milanese renaissance. The Champions League is back and so is Simon Hart to let you know what you should be looking out for come kick-off

WORDS Simon Hart
CJ Extra

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

Blog

Remember me?

A newfound rivalry, a hero's return and a Milanese renaissance. The Champions League is back and so is Simon Hart to let you know what you should be looking out for come kick-off

WORDS Simon Hart

Text Link

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Atlético de Madrid’s game against Liverpool not only sees a resumption of a fixture that has some recent history, but also the prospect of Luis Suárez against his old team. Strap in… 

There is a reunion in store for Luis Suárez on Tuesday in the shape of Liverpool’s visit to the Estadio Metropolitano; he scored 69 goals in 110 league games for the club between 2011 and 2014.

For fans of his current team, Atlético de Madrid, the hope is that Suárez can pick up where he left off against another of his previous employers before the international break. His goal in the 2-0 home win against Barcelona on 2 October was the Uruguayan’s first against the club he left in the summer of 2020 – and followed his maiden Champions League strike for Atlético in the 2-1 victory at AC Milan four days earlier. The fact that he had not struck an away goal in the competition for six years did not stop him from stepping up at the San Siro to convert the 97th-minute penalty winner.

Suárez was one of ten players aged 30 or over to score on Matchday 2. In his case, following a slow start to the campaign, he went into the international break with four goals from his past four club outings – and then played in all three of Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers, including 90 minutes against both Argentina and Brazil (scoring versus the latter). The 34-year-old will doubtless have been grateful, therefore, that Atlético had no league game this weekend. Diego Simeone too, as Atlético’s players will need all the energy they can muster against Jürgen Klopp’s visitors. To quote UEFA’s technical report, the Rojiblancos were “overrun” at times against Chelsea in last season’s round of 16 and, for half an hour on Matchday 2 (until Franck Kessié’s early red card), they could not live with the speed of Milan either.

Suárez, who was in the Barcelona side blown away at Anfield in 2019 (after he had scored against them in the first leg), will know the potential perils that Liverpool pose in that regard. Indeed, there ought to be a storm warning every time the Reds hit the road right now: with Saturday’s 5-0 win at Watford, they became the first English top-flight club to score three goals or more in seven successive away matches, including the five they got at Porto three weeks ago.

Liverpool have their own deadly finisher in Mo Salah.


One of the Liverpool scorers at Watford, Mohamed Salah, has now registered for eight games running. And Tuesday, of course, takes him back to the place where he opened the scoring in the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham. A happy memory for the Reds, though Liverpool have since lost twice in the Spanish capital: 3-1 at Real Madrid in the last quarter-finals last term; and 1-0 at Atlético in the round of 16 two seasons ago, on an evening when the Metropolitano summoned an atmosphere equal to the old Vicente Calderón.  

You suspect the home side will need the same noisy support again. With that in mind, it would be no surprise to see Simeone, who took to orchestrating the home crowd against Barcelona earlier this month, perform his best semaphorist impersonation once more. With Klopp in the technical area too, watching the mangers’ antics could be worth the entrance fee in itself.

A San Siro change of luck?
Milan’s loss to that late Atlético penalty last time out was hard luck on a team who, in their first Champions League home game since 2013/14, battled hard with ten men from the 29th minute onwards. It was also the second late kick in the teeth at the San Siro in the group stage this term, after Inter succumbed to an 89th-minute Rodrygo goal when losing 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Group D opener. Inter had the player of the match that night in Marcelo Brozović (and again in the 0-0 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in Milan Škriniar) but they still have no goal in the competition. Plus, they have just one point ahead of Tuesday’s home meeting with group leaders Sheriff.

To burst the Sheriff bubble, Simone Inzaghi’s men must do what they failed to achieve in last season’s group stage: win at the Giuseppe Meazza. They have prevailed in just two of their last ten ChampionsLeague home fixtures since 2018, hence three successive early exits). Can that luck turn?

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