European Highlights: Barca and Bayern facing off, Mourinho and Manchester United reuniting
Tuesday, October 22nd
Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund - 21:00 CET
The standout game on Tuesday night is a rematch of last year's Champions League final, with Borussia Dortmund travelling to the Bernabeu looking for revenge.
It hasn't been entirely smooth sailing for them under new manager Nuri Sahin, with a 5-1 defeat to Stuttgart a cause for concern, but their best performances under him have come in Europe with the German side currently sitting on top of the Champions League table after two rounds.
However, Real Madrid are a much sterner test than those they've faced so far - Club Brugge and Celtic - and Los Blancos will be going all out to get a win after losing 1-0 to Lille last time out in the competition.
All eyes will be on Kylian Mbappe, who scored his first goal of the month against Celta Vigo at the weekend but has yet to produce his best football since joining the Spanish giants in the summer.
Wednesday, October 23rd
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich - 21:00 CET
Two of the world's biggest clubs and most impressive sides of the season thus far will face off when Barcelona play host to manager Hansi Flick's former employers Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Barcelona have arguably been the best team in the world since Flick took over, winning 10 of their 12 matches and scoring four or more goals in six of them. Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in particular have been unstoppable, with the Pole on 16 goals already and the Brazilian thriving as the side's number 10.
Bayern haven't looked bad either though, losing just once under new manager Vincent Kompany and scoring 37 goals in their first 10 competitive matches of the campaign. Like Barcelona, they have a striker in red-hot form with Harry Kane finding the back of the net 13 times for his club since the start of the season.
Both sides have suffered a surprise defeat already in this year's Champions League though, making this clash at Camp Nou all the more important.
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool - 21:00 CET
This clash doesn't quite feature a club going up against their former manager like two of our other picks, but it's not far off, with RB Leipzig a member of the Red Bull group that Jurgen Klopp will be becoming a director of at the start of 2025.
That's one of many intriguing subplots in this match with Dominik Szoboszlai and Ibrahim Konate taking on their former club and Arne Slot reuniting with Lutsharel Geertruida, one of his most important players during his tenure at Feyenoord.
Slot will be looking to lead Liverpool to their eighth victory in a row but it won't be easy by any means with RB Leipzig enjoying a strong start to the season that has put them second in the Bundesliga with leaders Bayern only ahead of goal difference. They're rock-solid at the back, keeping six clean sheets in their last eight matches, and have a lethal front line with Xavi Simons, Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko three of the most dangerous attackers in the world right now.
Liverpool are very much favourites nonetheless though following their impressive win over Chelsea that kept them on top of the Premier League, and they'll have no issues with making club legend Klopp's job that bit harder when he steps into his new role in January.
Follow the Champions League here.
Thursday, October 24th
Fenerbahce vs Manchester United - 21:00 CET
Manchester United facing one of the toughest away days in European football would always make for an interesting match, but that's particularly the case with this one given who manages the hosts.
Jose Mourinho was let go by the English club six years ago now and would no doubt love to get one over his former employers. His Fenerbahce side haven't had the best start to the season, but with the atmosphere sure to be electric and the Portuguese manager often thriving in big games, you'd be a brave man to rule them out.
Current United manager Erik ten Hag meanwhile isn't quite on the brink of suffering the same fate as his predecessor following a win over Brentford at the weekend but the Dutchman will no doubt be under immense pressure again if he fails to lead his side to victory for the third Europe League match in a row.
One of the world's biggest clubs in desperate need of a win going up against their former manager and one of the most hostile crowds in Europe. Yeah, this will be fun.
