⛅️ Champions League Forecast: Old big ears is back | OneFootball

We’ve got some potentially thrilling games to look forward to on matchday one, new kick-off times and what UEFA are calling a “refreshed brand identity”.

Here’s how we see it all panning out …

Game of the week

Liverpool v PSG

When the draw for the group stage was made, this fixture immediately caught the eye and here at Onefootball HQ, we’re literally counting down the seconds until kick-off.

They may have ultimately fallen at the final hurdle, but Liverpool’s 2017/18 Champions League campaign was one to remember for the Anfield faithful, and nobody will be looking forward to facing them this season.

Then again, coming up against PSG’s frontline is unlikely to be a picnic either and this game has the potential to be an almighty attacking ding dong under the lights.

Here’s a question for you. Would you rather have a front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané or Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappé?

Tough one, isn’t it?

Last season, the Reds became the first team to have three players score 10 or more goals in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign, while PSG’s attacking triumvirate managed a respectable 17 Champions League goals between them.

There’s very little to separate these two sides, and that famous Anfield atmosphere could make all the difference once again.

Potential upset

Real Madrid v Roma

The holders are back but surely they can’t win it for a fourth time a row, can they?

The bookmakers certainly don’t seem to think so as remarkably, they’ve made Madrid fifth favourites to win this season’s Champions League, behind Juventus, PSG, Barcelona and Manchester City.

And perhaps you can understand why. Los Blancos lost both Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane this summer and you could argue that neither player nor coach have been adequately replaced. At the weekend, they only managed a draw away at Athletic Club in LaLiga and it’s fair to say new boss Julen Lopetegui hasn’t quite got them ripping up trees just yet.

Which is why we think there’s potential for Roma to cause a bit of a shock at the Bernabéu on Wednesday.

After all, the Giallorossi were the surprise package of last season’s Champions League when they stunned Barça with that unbelievable quarter-final comeback.

Then again, Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have made a very disappointing start to their Serie A campaign and haven’t solved the defensive problems which saw them ship seven goals against Liverpool over both legs of last season’s semi-final.

On that note, this will be the 11th Champions League meeting between these two sides and the Italians have only managed one clean sheet in their last 10 – a 1-0 win at the Bernabéu in 2002.

We’re suddenly feeling a lot less confident about this prediction, but you never know.

Easiest three points

Barcelona v PSV Eindhoven

However, a prediction that we’re extremely confident about is this one.

After their disappointing quarter-final exit last season, Barça seem more determined than ever to go the distance in this year’s Champions League.

And they could hardly have asked for a more comfortable start to the new campaign than PSV at home.

Not that we’re being disrespectful to the reigning Dutch champions, nor have we been overly impressed with Ernesto Valverde’s side so far this season, but it’s very difficult to see past a home win in this one.

History is not on the visitors’ side either. This will be the seventh meeting between these two sides with Barcelona having lost just once.

PSV have never won away at Camp Nou in any European competition and Barça have won 24 of their last 26 home Champions League games.

To make things even more daunting for Mark van Bommel’s men, they haven’t won any of their last eight matches in the Champions League, and have only won one of their last 16 on the road.

So when PSV do manage an unlikely 1-0 win against all odds on Tuesday, they’ll have us to thank for thoroughly jinxing it for their opponents.

Keep an eye on …

For the first time this season, Champions League games will kick off at two different times so if you turn your TV on at the traditional time of 20:45 CET hoping to watch Inter play Tottenham on Tuesday, you’re going to be in for a shock.

That game, along with Barcelona v PSV, Ajax v AEK Athens and Shakhtar v Hoffenheim will all get under way at the new time of 18:55 CET. Every other game will now kick off at 21:00 CET, and don’t you forget it.

If that weren’t exciting enough, we’ll also get our first glimpse at the Champions League’s new “brand identity” which, according to UEFA’s website, has been “designed to be more flexible, while building on established elements such as the anthem, the stadium and the trophy. The blue colour palette deriving from UEFA Champions League matchnights has been enriched with new accent colours – magenta and cyan – to support the fresher look.”

Thrilling stuff.

For the record

Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas is about to become the first player ever to feature in 20 different Champions League campaigns but if we’re being honest, we can’t see the 37-year-old adding to his three winners’ medals anytime soon.

Meanwhile, should Thomas Müller feature for Bayern Munich against Benfica on Wednesday, he will become the 35th player to have racked up 100 Champions League appearances.