It feels like we’ve barely had time to draw breath since Bayern Munich hoisted the Champions League trophy aloft following their victory over Paris Saint-Germain back in August, but on Tuesday night the competition ignites once more with eight fantastic ties across Europe.
Premier League duo Chelsea and Manchester United kick off their group campaigns with arguably the toughest ties they could face at this stage of the competition, while tournament hopefuls Barcelona and Juventus are also in action.
Read on, or jump to the game of your choice, for all you need to know about each of the eight games kicking off on the first night of Matchday 1 in the 2020/21 Champions League on BT Sport - your home of European football.
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Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo will take control of a Champions League tie for the first time ever when he travels to the Ukranian capital, in what could be a tricky night for the Italian giants.
It’s not been all plain sailing since the iconic playmaker took the reigns at I Bianconeri, succeeding former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri - who was shown the door after just one season.
They are unbeaten in Serie A after four games but with two draws to compliment a pair of wins so far, Juventus lie fifth, already four points adrift of early pacesetters AC Milan.
Preparations have hardly been ideal for this Champions League tie either, with talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus while on international duty with Portugal.
Kyiv, meanwhile, are enjoying life at the top of the table in their native Ukraine following an unbeaten start to the season under new manager Mircea Lucescu, who took over in July.
A comprehensive 5-1 aggregate playoff victory over Gent saw them qualify handily for the group stages and with a number of talented players courted by some of Europe’s top clubs - including versatile defender Vitaliy Mykolenko - in the ranks, they certainly have the potential to cause an upset on Matchday 1.
Zenit St Petersburg v Club Brugge - Live stream
BT Sport ESPN HD, 5.45pm
With the Russian domestic season already approaching the halfway stage, Zenit lead the way atop the table on goal difference ahead of rivals Spartak Moscow.
They recruited smartly in the summer, bringing in Liverpool’s Premier League-winning centre-back Dejan Lovren - whose absence on Merseyside has been keenly felt over the last few days - and creative Brazilian midfielder Wendel from Sporting Lisbon.
Occupying a potentially tricky group alongside Lazio and Borussia Dortmund, Zenit coach Sergei Semak will know three points are a must in their easiest fixture of the group stages on paper.
However, the message from Brugge boss Philippe Clement will not be too dissimilar as he seeks to inspire his team to go one better than last year and qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.
The Belgian outfit possess frightening pace across the forward line with the likes of Krepin Diatta and Emmanuel Denis capable of causing mayhem against any defence in Europe - as Real Madrid found out during the group stages last season.
BT Sport 2 HD, 7pm
The pick of the Matchday 1 fixtures sees last year’s beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain welcome Manchester United to the Parc des Princes.
It was a strange summer in the French capital with Thomas Tuchel’s pleas for quality reinforcements largely falling on deaf ears among the PSG hierarchy.
They lost first team stars like Thomas Meunier, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Eric Choupo-Moting on free transfers with the permanent addition of Mauro Icardi (£45m), bolstered by Alessandro Florenzi and Danilo Pereira arriving on loan.
A familiar face in town
Will Cavani get his revenge?
Record-scorer Edinson Cavani left PSG under a cloud and as fate would have it, looks set for his Man Utd debut against his former club.
Despite their transfer window woes, Tuchel can still call upon a frightening starting XI that includes bonafide superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe - both of whom have inspired PSG to score 12 during a rampant few weeks in Ligue 1.
Visitors United will feel relatively good heading into the tie having dispatched a sorry Newcastle United 4-1 at the weekend, albeit with the decisive three goals arriving during the final 10 minutes.
Harry Maguire should be full of confidence once again after a tough few weeks with the England defender opening the scoring for United on Saturday night and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will need the former Leicester man to be on top form to quell the home side’s potent attacking trio.
United won in controversial fashion on their last visit to this ground when Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have handballed in the dying moments, with Marcus Rashford duly dispatching the dramatic penalty to send PSG crashing out of the last 16.
How Solskjaer would relish history repeating itself in one of the most memorable matches of his United career to date.
BT Sport 3 HD & BT Sport Ultimate, 7.15pm
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea smashed the fast-forward button on what looked to be a long-term rebuilding project at Stamford Bridge this summer, with a host of first team superstars arriving during a lucrative spending spree over the past few months.
Results in the Premier League so far have been mixed, as might be expected with so many new faces playing together for the first time.
But what will give Lampard real cause for concern in the early stages of the season is the manner in which Chelsea seem to be conceding goals; the Blues’ defence was a glaring weakness in the team last season and thus far, there appears to have been little progress in correcting that flaw.
However, Lampard will feel his team will only improve over time and the Champions League provides the perfect platform for the Blues to show they have turned a corner under his stewardship.
Visitors Sevilla arrive in west London with questions to answer themselves having been beaten by Granada at the weekend.
Julian Lopetegui’s men had made an impressive start to their La Liga campaign, winning two and drawing against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, but they now lie in 10th with a key few weeks approaching in their season.
The five-time Europa League winners are desperate to make their mark on the biggest stage - and a statement win over Chelsea in London would suggest they are more than capable this season.
Lazio v Borussia Dortmund - Live stream
BT Sport Extra 2 HD, 7.45pm
The Champions League will come as a welcome relief to Simeone Inzaghi’s Lazio given their dismal start to the Serie A season.
I Biancocelesti have won just one of their four games so far, conceding eight along the way, including drubbings at the hands of both Sampdoria and Atalanta.
Their talismanic striker Ciro Immobile – responsible for an incredible 103 goals in his 142 games for the club to date – has found the net only once since the start of the season but will be fired up for this one.
The 30-year-old endured a difficult year in Dortmund after joining the German giants from Torino and was eventually dispatched to Sevilla before finding a home in Rome.
Now one of Europe’s premier marksmen, the veteran goal-getter will be hoping to steal the show from his prolific peer Erling Haaland when these two teams meet at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night.
Norwegian superstar Haaland, one of the frontrunners for the 2020 Golden Boy award following his incredible breakout year, is Dortmund’s top scorer with five so far this year and has proven pedigree in the Champions League.
As always, there will also be significant interest in British duo Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham – a £25m summer arrival from Birmingham – ahead of this eye-catching Group F tie.
RB Leipzig v Istanbul Basaksehir - Live stream
BT Sport Extra 3 HD, 7.45pm
Julian Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig were the surprise package of the tournament last season, storming through to the semi-finals in impressive fashion.
The German side hammered Tottenham in the Round of 16 before dumping out Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals and, during an ordinary year, might have been a real threat in the final four of the competition.
As it was, prolific striker Timo Werner departed for Chelsea prior to the European restart leaving Leipzig short of their best player at the time they needed him most.
The club have a glowing reputation as one of the smartest recruiters and will hope the bodies they have brought in – including Crystal Palace flop Alexander Sorloth – can continue the momentum of last season.
Istanbul Basaksehir should provide a decent litmus test for Leipzig, with the Turkish Super Lig champions making their first ever appearance in the group stage of the competition.
Helmed by former Inter Milan and Galatasaray midfielder Okan Buruk, Basaksehir have a number of former Premier League players in the ranks including Demba Ba, Nacer Chadli and Martin Skrtel.
However, domestically, things are not going so well for the visitors who remain in the relegation zone despite beating Trabzonspor at the weekend.
Can they continue their mini-revival with an impressive win on the road in Germany?
BT Sport Extra 4 HD, 7.45pm
Chelsea’s Group E compatriots lock horns at the Roazhon Park and the home side are one of Ligue 1’s more interesting sides, having begun their domestic season in impressive fashion.
Under manager Julien Stéphan’s guidance, they are one of only two teams - alongside table toppers Lille - to remain unbeaten after seven games and have a number of promising young players already established among the first team.
The most promiment of the next generation is midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who only turns 18 next month has already won three caps for the French national team, including a goalscoring appearance against Ukraine earlier this month.
Visiting Krasnodar, who finished third in last season’s Russian Premier League, are currently seventh in the table and will look to Europe to help springboard a turnaround in fortunes for the remainder of 2020.
Former Newcastle flop Remy Cabella now plies his trade for the Group E outsiders, but there are few other recognisable faces among a team unfancied to trouble the big boys this year.
Barcelona v Ferencvaros - Live stream
BT Sport ESPN HD, 8pm
Ronald Koeman’s appointment in the midst of a slow-motion crisis unfolding at Barcelona came as a surprise to most across the footballing landscape and the former Everton man has done little to quieten the doubters since his arrival.
The Blaugrana have been unspectacular, to put it kindly, and enter the Champions League this season without a win in two games having been beaten by Getafe last time out.
Koeman will feel he deserves more time before judgements can be made about his impact on the team, but with Lionel Messi almost certain to depart next summer, the Dutchman cannot afford to get it wrong in Europe over the next few months.
Barring their Hungarian visitors causing the shock of the round, Barcelona should begin their quest for a first Champions League title since 2015 with a comfortable win at the Nou Camp.
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