The Champions League league phase reaches its midpoint tonight. After three rounds, five teams still have a perfect record, while several big names are already playing catch-up. Tuesday's nine matches range from a heavyweight meeting in Madrid to a night of pressure at Old Trafford.
The format is unforgiving: the top eight go straight into the round of 16, teams 9 to 24 enter the play-offs and the rest are eliminated. With only four rounds left after tonight, every point starts to matter.
Tonight's schedule (CET)
18:45 Galatasaray v Stuttgart
18:45 Shakhtar Donetsk v Sporting CP
21:00 Atlético Madrid v Bayern Munich
21:00 Barcelona v Aston Villa
21:00 Bodø/Glimt v Lille
21:00 Feyenoord v Inter
21:00 LASK v Slovan Bratislava
21:00 Manchester United v Roma
21:00 Villarreal v Paris Saint-Germain
Atlético v Bayern: the pick of the night
Two mid-table sides meet at the Metropolitano. Atlético are 16th on four points after a defeat at Liverpool, a 2-0 home win over Manchester United and a 1-1 draw in Stuttgart. Bayern are 14th on five points after beating Bodø/Glimt 5-0 and drawing with Viking (3-3) and Arsenal (2-2).
Diego Simeone's side arrive in form. Atlético are unbeaten in nine matches and won 2-0 against Levante at the weekend. According to UEFA, they have also gone 16 European home games without defeat against German opposition.
Bayern, by contrast, have a long injury list. Jamal Musiala and Luis Díaz are out, and Michael Olise is a doubt after coming off in the league game against Dortmund. According to the club, head coach Vincent Kompany is ill, with assistant Aaron Danks taking charge in his place. UEFA notes that Harry Kane has scored in ten consecutive Champions League appearances; one more would equal Cristiano Ronaldo's record.
Barcelona test unbeaten Villa
Aston Villa have been the surprise package of the league phase. Unai Emery's side have won all three games and sit second, behind PSG only on goals scored. They beat Viking 3-1 last time out, and a result at Camp Nou would take them a long way towards the top eight.
Barcelona are eighth on six points after a 4-2 defeat in Paris on matchday 3. They responded with a 6-1 win over Alavés in La Liga at the weekend. Lamine Yamal needs one more goal to hold outright the record for most Champions League goals as a teenager, which he currently shares with Kylian Mbappé. According to reports, Hansi Flick is without Jules Koundé among others, which could mean a reshuffled back line.
History favours the hosts. UEFA says Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 15 European home games against English clubs, and Emery has a poor record against them over his career.
Pressure at Old Trafford
Manchester United face Roma in difficult circumstances. They have gone nine matches without a win in all competitions. In Europe they have lost to Atlético and, 4-1, to Como, leaving them 21st with three points. The pressure on head coach Michael Carrick is building, and Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford will not feature tonight.
Roma are heading the other way. Gian Piero Gasperini's side are unbeaten in Serie A and won 5-2 at Udinese last weekend. They have absentees of their own: goalkeeper Mile Svilar and Manu Koné are out, and Paulo Dybala is a doubt. Roma are 15th on four points.
Villarreal v PSG and the rest
Leaders PSG travel to Villarreal with a perfect record after 4-2 wins over both Manchester City and Barcelona. Luis Enrique's squad is stretched, though: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has had surgery on a cruciate ligament injury, and Ousmane Dembélé, Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes are all injured. Iñigo Pérez's Villarreal are 19th on three points after a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, and captain Gerard Moreno is reportedly a doubt.
In Istanbul, Galatasaray, who won 4-2 in Lille last time, host a Stuttgart side that are sixth and unbeaten on seven points. Sporting, beaten 3-2 at home by LASK, are on six points and visit Shakhtar, who have four.
Feyenoord and Inter are both on three points and meet again after Inter's round-of-16 win in 2025. Pointless Lille travel to Bodø, where the Norwegians have won their last four Champions League home matches, according to UEFA. LASK, who earned their first win in the competition against Sporting, host a Slovan Bratislava side that have lost all eleven of their Champions League matches.
The round continues on Wednesday with, among others, Fenerbahçe v Liverpool, AEK Athens v Real Madrid and Leipzig v Manchester City.
