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The UEFA Champions League returns this week with a series of high-profile matches that could make Matchday 4 the most entertaining round of the competition stage yet. Tuesday’s action in particular is packed with reigning champions Real Madrid hosting Christian Pulisic’s AC Milan and Liverpool facing Bayer Leverkusen. Most notably, Ruben Amorim will manage Sporting Lisbon in one of his last games before joining Manchester United, and will face a future foe in the process: Manchester City. Wednesday’s action, meanwhile, is headlined by Arsenal’s trip to Inter, which pits two teams with identical records.
Ahead of Matchday 4, here’s what you need to know.
How to watch
Biggest+ will have every minute of action on matchday 4, with additional coverage CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network. Each day starts with the Champions League matchday on CBS Sports Golazo Network before the start of the UEFA Champions League Today pre-game show, which airs on Biggest+ And CBS Sports Network. Certain matches are broadcast CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network while Biggest+ will carry the entire slate, as will The Golazo Show. Biggest+ And CBS Sports Network will host the UEFA Champions League Today post-game show, while CBS Sports Golazo Network will wrap up the day’s action with new editions of Scoreline and The Champions Club.
Matchday 4 TV schedule
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Storylines for Matchday 4
1. Ruben Amorim’s soft launch
A few weeks ago the match between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City was fascinating in itself. Both teams have seven points out of nine in Champions League action so far, but City’s vulnerabilities would be severely tested by an impressive Sporting side that boasts one of Europe’s most in-form strikers in Viktor Gyokeres .
But when the two sides finally meet on Tuesday, it will be the most high-profile match of Amorim’s farewell tour in his final week at Sporting. The new Manchester United manager has already started his last matches against the Portuguese champions strongly, beating Estrela Amadora 5-1 on Friday. This week’s match against City will be seen by some as a taste of what is to come for United, although Amorim’s Sporting team is of course much more of a finished product than the Red Devils currently are. Amorim was not only instrumental in creating a tactical identity for the resurgent Sporting, which expertly uses defensive stability in a 3-4-3 as the basis for their fluid attack, but also in selecting the team’s current staff . A wave of players who have graduated from some of Europe’s top clubs have worked with Amorim along the way, and others are likely to follow. While the pressure to perform will be on him as Amorim approaches his arrival at United, he will also play without the burden of the Red Devils’ squad imperfections.
To make matters even more intriguing, Sporting are coming up against a City team that is particularly vulnerable. They land in Lisbon after one 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth over the weekend, where they outwitted and outplayed the opposition but failed to create enough quality chances. City generated 1.56 expected goals from 18 shots, while Bournemouth had 2.04 expected goals from 12 shots. It wasn’t exactly the first time City had had this problem either, so Saturday’s performance cannot allay concerns that Pep Guardiola’s team has finally run out of steam after almost a decade of dominance. As much pressure as there is on Amorim to impress, there is perhaps just as much emphasis on Guardiola to correct course.
2. Real Madrid and AC Milan focus on form
AC Milan may have secured a 1-0 win over Monza on Saturday and finally recorded their first Champions League win on Matchday 3 against Club Brugge, but their up-and-down season has yet to end. They have recorded three wins and three defeats in their last six games in all competitions, showing that manager Paulo Fonseca is still sorting out the balance in Milan, which isn’t exactly encouraging news ahead of a visit to Real Madrid on Tuesday.
While US Men’s National Team star Christian Pulisic remains Milan’s most consistent player with seven goals and three assists in 13 games, Fonseca has made the big call to limit Rafael Leao’s starting role after a poor start to the season that coincided with the new manager’s tactical shifts. . Even with Fonseca solving Milan’s problems, their inconsistencies will still be seen as vulnerabilities by the time the match gets underway at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
This will also be Madrid’s first match since their crushing 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in El Clasico, with their match against Valencia postponed after flooding in south-eastern Spain. The reigning European champions are in the midst of their own season full of inconsistencies but tend to win more often than not and will no doubt expect a big reaction when he returns to the pitch. With extra rest, manager Carlo Ancelotti will have a full roster of stars to choose from, including Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius Junior, so a statement-making performance could be in store for the hosts.
3. All eyes on the top spot
Only two teams enter matchday 4 with a perfect nine points out of nine: Aston Villa and Liverpool. The former have a great chance to keep that winning streak alive with a game against Club Brugge on Wednesday, but Liverpool face a big test on Tuesday if they want to keep their perfect run active: German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen has seven out of nine points and came away with a surprising draw against Brest on matchday 3. The signs of last season’s impressive title-winning run are still evident for Xabi Alonso’s side, who sit sixth in the Champions League and have conceded. only one goal in three European matches. In the Bundesliga, however, things are not quite the same: they are seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich after nine games and have won only four games. Their particular vulnerability is their defence, which has conceded 15 goals in the league – the worst for anyone in Germany’s top seven.
Liverpool, meanwhile, enter Tuesday’s match with few complications. New manager Arne Slot has won all but one match so far this season. His team has a defensive stability that serves as the basis for an effective attack. The Reds have conceded just one goal in three Champions League games and still boast the Premier League’s best defensive record, conceding just six goals in 10 games. This game will serve as another test of Slot’s restraint, with Liverpool being more methodical when taking shots, but it’s also worth keeping an eye on Alonso. This match is a battle of rising managerial stars, although Leverkusen’s first post-title Champions League campaign will be a measure of the side’s – and manager’s – ability to keep pace with Europe’s elite.