Champions League teams & players to watch in GW3: Will Salah move clear?

The 2024-25 Champions League is back for its third gameweek.

Normally this would mark the halfway mark of the group stage, but with the new league phase there’s still a lot of action to come. This week we have some big games, including Bayern Munich taking on Barcelona.

The German champions have enjoyed themselves against Barcelona and could land a record-equalling victory. There’s also a record in sights for Manchester City, with a special milestone coming up for one of their stars.

A perfect opportunity for Arsenal bounce back

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season at the weekend, beaten by Bournemouth in the Premier League. But they’ll fancy their chances of bouncing back. The Gunners have taken four points from their opening two Champions League games and face struggling opposition in Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Ukrainian side are one of four teams yet to score in the Champions League this season, ranking last for total shots and shots on target. Arsenal, meanwhile, have kept a clean sheet in both of their Champions League matches so far. They haven’t kept three in a row in the Champions League since 2007.

Arsenal are also unbeaten in their last nine home games in the Champions League since a 2-3 defeat to Olympiacos in September 2015. Gabriel Jesus will be hoping to aid Arsenal in victory, with four goals against Shakhtar Donetsk. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (five) has scored more Champions League goals against Shakhtar.

Can Bayern continue dominance?

You wouldn’t expect a fixture between two historically big clubs to be this one-sided. Bayern Munich and Barcelona have faced off 13 times in the Champions League, with the German side winning 10.

Another victory for Bayern would equal Real Madrid’s record for the most wins against a single opponent in the Champions League. Coincidentally, Real Madrid’s record of 11 wins is against Bayern Munich.

At the same time, Bayern could become just the second side to win seven consecutive Champions League games against an opponent. During this time, Bayern have scored 22 goals and have kept a clean sheet in each of the past four. Again, the current record is held by Real Madrid, this time against Ajax between 2010 and 2019.

Thiago Motta looking to join esteemed company

It feels like Juventus have been going under the radar slightly this season. They remain unbeaten in Serie A with four wins and four draws from their opening eight games, sitting third.

In the Champions League, Thiago Motta’s side have won their first two games, beating PSV Eindhoven and RB Leipzig. They’ll be looking to win their first three games of a Champions League campaign for the first time since 2021-22.

While that isn’t too long ago, it would be a significant victory for Motta. The former midfielder could become just the third Juventus manager to win his first three Champions League games after Fabio Capello in 2004-05 and Marcelo Lippi in 1995-96.

A special moment for Ilkay Gundogan

Manchester City will be expected to beat Sparta Prague when they face off in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Citizens will be in the ninth English side Sparta Prague have faced in major European competition. Sparta Prague have won just four of their 22 games, losing 14.

Should Man City avoid the upset, it will be a historical moment. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently unbeaten in 25 games in the Champions League, with no side managing to make it 26 matches without defeat. Of course, people will point out the semi-final exit to Real Madrid last year, as Man City lost the tie. But they did not lose either of the matches, with penalty shootouts officially taking place after a match has finished.

Regardless of the result, it will be a big moment for Ilkay Gundogan. Should he play, Gundogan will make his 100th appearance in the Champions League. It will be his 69th with Manchester City, adding to 20 for Borussia Dortmund and 10 with Barcelona.

Mohamed Salah could move clear

Liverpool kept their place at the top of the Premier League table with a win over Chelsea at the weekend. And now they’ll be looking to remain perfect in the Champions League.

The Reds have won each of their opening two games, beating AC Milan and Bologna so far. This week they face RB Leipzig and could win their first three games of a Champions League campaign for the third time. They also achieved this feat in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Eyes will be on Mohamed Salah to help Liverpool over the line. The Egyptian has been directly involved in 12 goals in his past nine Champions League games for Liverpool, scoring nine with three assists.

Salah scored and assisted against Bologna last time out, with no player both scoring and assisting in more Champions League games than the Egyptian’s nine. A goal and assist against RB Leipzig would move Salah to 10, one clear of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe — providing the latter does not match the feat against Borussia Dortmund.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens chasing Alan Smith

While Mbappe may be chasing the outright lead, there will also be an Englishman hoping to make his mark. And we’re not talking about Jude Bellingham facing his former club once again.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens has been enjoying himself so far. The Englishman has scored four goals in 10 games across all competitions for Borussia Dortmund this season. He’s already beaten his best-ever tally for a single campaign.

Two of those goals have come in the Champions League, scoring twice in Dortmund’s opening 3-0 win over Club Brugge. Bynoe-Gittens didn’t score against Celtic, but he did record an assist.

And if Bynoe-Gittens were to find the net against Real Madrid, he’d break the record for the youngest ever Englishman to score against Los Blancos in the Champions League. The current record is held by Alan Smith, who did so for Leeds United in March 2001 aged 20 years and 129 days.

Aston Villa could join select group

Aston Villa are another team still perfect in the Champions League. It’s been a dream return to Europe’s top table for the Villans, who have beaten Young Boys and Bayern Munich so far.

A victory over Bologna on Tuesday would see Villa equal their longest run of victories in the European Cup/Champions League. They last won three in a row in Europe’s top competition in 1981. They could also become just the third side to win their first three Champions League games without conceding since its rebrand in 1992-93. The only clubs to have done so previously are Malaga in 2012-13 and Leicester City in 2016-17.

It could also be a big win for Unai Emery. The Villa boss could become the fifth Spanish manager to win 25 games in the Champions League, joining Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique.

Lautaro Martinez one away from joining legend

The next goal for Lautaro Martinez in the Champions League will be a significant one. The Argentinian has scored 13 goals for Inter Milan in the Champions League, netting against Red Star Belgrade last time out.

He’s just one goal behind Adriano on the list of all-time top scorers for Inter in the Champions League. Inter face Young Boys on Wednesday so Martinez may fancy his chances of equalling, or breaking Adriano’s record.

AC Milan looking to end rut

Moving over to the other side of Milan, AC Milan are in a rut in the Champions League. They’ve lost both of their games in the competition so far this season, beaten by Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen.

AC Milan will be hoping to avoid three defeats in their opening three matches of a Champions League campaign, having only done so once before. That came in the 2021-22 campaign under Stefano Pioli’s stewardship.

The stats don’t make good reading for AC Milan though. Opponents Club Brugge haven’t lost any of their last four away games in the group stage of the Champions League, keeping a clean sheet each time. AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca has also only won one of his last nine Champions League games, losing five.

On top of their slow start this season, AC Milan have also lost their last two home games in the Champions League. They’ve never lost three home games in a row in the competition. No pressure.

Daizen Maeda seeking history

Celtic were brought back down to earth with a crash in the Champions League last time out. After a big win of their own in the opening matchweek, Celtic were trashed 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund in their second match.

Daizen Maeda scored the only goal for Celtic, after also finding the net in the 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava. A goal against Atalanta would see Maeda become the first ever Celtic player to score in three consecutive Champions League games.

But Atalanta have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four games in major European competition.