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The UEFA Champions League officially makes a long-awaited return on Tuesday, but this season’s competition will not be like the ones before it.
The move to the Swiss system format adds more teams, more matches and more competition days to the schedule, all with the hope of increasing competitiveness already in the league stage, which replaces the group stage. In terms of matches alone, Matchday 1 lives up to expectations with a handful of exciting matches to kick off the competition. Liverpool’s visit to AC Milan will be the highlight of the first day of action on Tuesday, while Kylian Mbappe will make his Champions League debut in a Real Madrid shirt as hosts Stuttgart on the same day.
English and Italian champions Manchester City and Inter face off on Wednesday, and Champions League action continues on Thursday with Arsenal traveling to Europa League champions Atalanta and Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen returning to the competition with a trip to Feyenoord.
Ahead of the first set of Champions League matches this season, the CBS Sports team offer their expert picks and predictions. Look below.
Don’t miss anything from the Champions League. As always, you can view all of our coverage Biggest+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network all season.
Here are our expert picks for this match day:
Tuesday
Game of the Day: Milan vs. Liverpool
Player to watch: Christian Pulisic: We may be in the world of small players, but two goals and two assists in his first four Serie A games is as good a return as the USMNT star could ask for. In the likely event that Pulisic starts from the right, he could have the strength to attack a relative weak point of Liverpool, with Andrew Robertson lacking the strength he did, with or without the ball. If Pulisic can burst into space in the penalty area and create shots, he could well win a match that looks set to be against Milan. –James Benge
Man of the match: Mohammed Salah: The Liverpool striker is expected to be the player who can create more and should score at least one goal if the England side live up to expectations against AC Milan. Salah had a strong start to the season, as he scored three goals in four games and also provided three assists for his teammates. There is no reason to believe he won’t emulate his performance in his Champions League debut. –Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Milan 0-2 Liverpool: Beating the Reds while scoring twice seems to be the most popular choice within our panel. The Rossoneri could keep things tighter, but Arne Slot’s men are big favorites to take the points, despite the defeat at home to Nottingham Forest this weekend. The Italian side have been hardly impressive so far this early season, despite a productive win over a sorry Venezia team, while Liverpool have been quite convincing until that setback at Anfield. Few can forget that this was the 2005 UCL final and an absolute classic with a 3-3 draw that the English giants won on penalties. That alone should guarantee that regardless of the outcome, it will be a special European evening in Milan. — Jonathan Johnson
Best bet: Liverpool above 1.5 goals (-142): While not the most appealing song from the match, Liverpool will be looking to score against a Milan side who were defensively suspect after their defeat to Nottingham Forest this weekend. For Premier League teams, getting off to a quick start is crucial due to the sheer number of games on their plate, so there’s no reason not to keep things simple here. — Chuck Booth
Wednesday
Game of the Day: Man City vs. Inter
Player to watch: Erling Haaland: He’s pretty good, this guy. Just two goals in the win over Brentford suggest the perennial hat-trick hero’s standards have dipped, but it’s hardly a return to sniff at. Inter have been a pretty exceptional defensive force since at least the start of last season, but in all honesty they have never played anyone as good as Haaland. –James Benge
Man of the match: Rodri: When Manchester City won the UEFA Champions League final against Inter in 2023, he was the man of the match, as well as the player who scored the decisive goal against the Nerazzurri. He missed the first few games of the season due to a hamstring injury, but he is now ready to make his comeback as there are a lot of expectations surrounding his performance on Wednesday. — Francesco Porzio
Prediction: City 2-1 Inter: City winning by one goal and scoring twice themselves seems to be the dominant favored scenario in this scenario. The Premier League leaders against the Italian champions should give us a good dose of opening day quality. It was the 2023 final that many will remember as being cagey, so don’t be surprised if it is decided by the slim margin of a goal or so. –Jonathan Johnson
Best bet: Less than 2.5 goals (+134): When two teams that could play each other for the Champions League final meet again to kick off a league match, you can safely expect a secretive affair. Neither team really needs to win the match to progress in the new lineup, but early points don’t hurt either. I expect it will be difficult to score goals, so it feels good to get to the bottom here, even if Erling Haaland can destroy it in the blink of an eye. — Charles Booth
Thursday
Game of the Day: AS Monaco vs. Barcelona
Player to watch: Raphinha: Perhaps no one in European football had a better weekend than Raphinha, scorer of three and supplier of another, as Real Valladolid were put to the sword at the Olympic Stadium. The Brazilian’s place at Barcelona has not always looked secure since joining from Leeds United, but he appears to have found a good fit in Hansi Flick, who has freed him up in more central positions. — James Benge
Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal: The Spanish gem was man of the match against Girona on Sunday as he scored a brace for the fifth straight win for the Hansi Flick-led side, who have had an excellent start to the season so far. The Blaugrana will make their international debut against Monaco and there is now a lot of expectation surrounding them and the Spanish teenage striker, who is expected to be one of the stars of the Champions League season. — Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Monaco 1-2 Barcelona: Few care Les Monegasques a chance in this match, given Barça’s start to the season in La Liga. While the Catalan giants are strong favorites to win, the principality’s continental pedigree cannot be forgotten and this is a good chance for Adi Hutter’s side to show that, in front of a rare strong turnout of supporters at Stade Louis II . Nothing says a big European match more than the usually sparsely populated but always picturesque venue being packed to the rafters and that could help Monaco keep the Blaugrana close. –Jonathan Johnson
Best bet: Barcelona scores in both halves (+154): Under Flick, Barcelona scored early and often in games. They only have one speed and it’s all attack, so the goals will flow at this speed. I was in the over 3.5, but took a slightly safer route for Barcelona to score one goal in each half. — Karel Boot
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