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UCL MATCH WEEK 3: Real Madrid v Juventus headlines Wednesday nine-game line-up

football22 October 2025 11:05
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The UEFA Champions League returns for match week three with nine thrilling fixtures lined up for Wednesday night live on SuperSport.

The headline clash sees Real Madrid host Juventus in a heavyweight showdown, while Tottenham face a potentially tricky test away to Monaco.

With group standings beginning to take shape, every point counts as Europe’s elite battle for knockout stage qualification.

Chelsea v Ajax

This is the third European meeting between Chelsea and Ajax, having met twice in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions group stage – the Blues won 1-0 in Amsterdam, before a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Ajax are winless in their last 11 major European matches against English teams (D2 L9) since a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in April 2019. They’ve failed to score a single goal in any of their last five, since a Mohammed Kudus goal against Liverpool in September 2022.

Chelsea have lost just two of their last 12 UEFA Champions League matches at Stamford Bridge (W9 1N), both of which were against Real Madrid in quarterfinals in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The Blues are unbeaten in their last 12 group games at Stamford Bridge (W8 D4) since a Valencia victory back in September 2019.

Ajax have lost their last five major European competition matches (three in UEFA Europa League last season, first two Champions League games this season). They haven’t lost six in a row since doing so between April 1988 and September 1989.

With Ajax on a five-game losing run in major European competition, this will be the seventh time Chelsea have faced a team who’ve lost their last 5+ games in Europe – they’ve won their previous six by an aggregate score of 14-0. The only English teams to lose against a side on such a run are Man City in 1970 v Linfield in the Cup Winners’ Cup and Man Utd in 2019 v Astana in the UEFA Europa League.

 

 

Chelsea are the only side yet to give a single minute to a player aged 30+ in the UEFA Champions League this season. Only two English sides have gone three or more games without fielding a player in their 30s – Liverpool in 2002-03 (6) and Spurs in 2016-17 (6).

John Heitinga has lost his first two UEFA Champions League matches as manager, the first Ajax boss to ever do that. Heitinga is one of four people to lose his first two games both as a player and manager in the competition with a club (with Ajax in 2003), along with Mark van Bommel at PSV, Ivan Leko at Club Brugge and Krunoslav Jurcic at Dinamo Zagreb, none of whom also lost their first three as Heitinga could do.

Jorthy Mokio became the second youngest Ajax player to appear in the UEFA Champions League when he debuted on MD2, aged only 17 years and 214 days. He was the 52nd teenager to appear in the competition for Ajax – the most of any team.

Only two players have made more tackles in this season’s UEFA Champions League than Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo (9) – he made more tackles than any other player across MD2, with seven in the win over Benfica.

Although he is yet to score in the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea, one of João Pedro’s six previous major European goals was netted against Ajax back in September 2023 in the UEFA Europa League for Brighton in a 2-0 win. No player has ever netted against Ajax for two different English clubs in major European competition.

Real Madrid v Juventus

This will be the 22nd meeting between Real Madrid and Juventus in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League – only Bayern Munich versus Real Madrid has ever been played more often (28).

Real Madrid and Juventus last met in the UEFA Champions League in April 2018, with the Spaniards progressing 4-3 on aggregate in the quarterfinals (3-0 away, 1-3 home), thanks mainly to a 97th minute Cristiano Ronaldo penalty in the second leg that took them through to the semifinals.

On three of the last four occasions Real Madrid have faced Juventus in the UEFA Champions League, they have gone on to win the competition that season (2013-14, 2016-17 and 2017-18), the exception coming in 2014-15 when Juve knocked Madrid out in the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate.

Juventus are one of three sides to draw their first two UEFA Champions League games this season, along with Bodø/Glimt and Bayer Leverkusen. They haven’t drawn three in a row since October 2012, which was also their first three matches that campaign in 2012-13.

 

 

Real Madrid have netted 18 goals in their last five UEFA Champions League group stage matches, winning all five games. In addition, they’ve won 12 of their last 13 home games in the group stages, losing the other 3-1 against AC Milan in November 2024.

Xabi Alonso has won his first two UEFA Champions League matches with Real Madrid and is looking to become the fifth manager to win his first three with this club, along with Josef Heynckes, Carlos Queiroz, José Mourinho and most recently Carlo Ancelotti, whose third win was a home win against Juventus in 2013.

Juventus have won only one of their last 11 away matches in the UEFA Champions League (D5 L5): on 2nd October 2024 versus RB Leipzig (3-2), although four of their last five away games in the competition have ended in draws (L1).

Real Madrid have had the most shots (48) and shots on target (27) in the UEFA Champions League this season. With 15 shots on target v Marseille and 12 v Kairat, it could be the fourth time a side has had 10+ shots on target in three games in a row since 2003-04, with two of the previous three occasions being Real Madrid (April 2014 & November 2019); the other was Bayern Munich (December 2019).

Kylian Mbappé is the UEFA Champions League’s leading scorer in 2025-26 with five goals, with the Real Madrid forward netting two against Marseille and a hat-trick against Kairat. The most goals scored in a team’s first three matches in a season is seven, by Filippo Inzaghi for AC Milan in 2002-03 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14 for Real Madrid, both of whom ended that season as champions.

Francisco Conceição has netted four goals in the UEFA Champions League for three different clubs (one for Ajax, one for Porto, two for Juventus), with all four of them coming as a sub. It’s the joint most goals scored with 100 per cent coming as a sub, along with Roberto Baggio, Joseba Llorente and Jürgen Rische.

Monaco v Tottenham Hotspur

This will be the fifth meeting between Monaco and Tottenham in European competition – after failing to win either of the first two (D1 L1), Monaco won home and away against the English side in the 2016-17 group stage of the UEFA Champions League (both 2-1).

Monaco have only lost one of their eight home matches against English sides in the UEFA Champions League, winning five of the other seven (D2). That lone defeat, however, did come against a side from North London (2-0 win for Arsenal in March 2015).

Since winning four consecutive home matches in the 2016-17 edition of the UEFA Champions League (including one over Tottenham), Monaco have only won three of their last 13 home matches in the competition, suffering nine defeats in this period (D1).

Tottenham Hotspur have won one of their last seven away UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L4), though it did come in France in a 2-1 win at Marseille back in November 2022.

Monaco twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Man City on MD2, the first time they’d avoided defeat from behind in a home UEFA Champions League match since September 2016 v Bayer Leverkusen (L9 in between). It was the first time they’d twice come from behind to avoid defeat since a 2-2 draw with Rangers in November 2000.

 

 

Thomas Frank could become the first Tottenham manager to go unbeaten in his first three UEFA Champions League matches (W1 D1 in his first two). Meanwhile, only in 2017-18 have Spurs previously gone unbeaten in their opening three games of a single edition in the competition (W2 D1 under Mauricio Pochettino).

Monaco have conceded 2+ goals in each of their last three UEFA Champions League matches, only once doing so in four in a row in the competition (between November 2017 and October 2018).

Mohammed Kudus completed five dribbles in just 30 minutes on the pitch in Tottenham’s previous UEFA Champions League game (v Bodø/Glimt). This was as many as the rest of his Spurs teammates managed in the game combined (5), as well as the most by a substitute for the club in a Champions League match.

Monaco defender Eric Dier – who played 365 games in all competitions for Spurs between 2014 and 2023 – has scored in two of his last three UEFA Champions League appearances, scoring for Bayern Munich in April and Monaco on MD2. Dier’s one of only two Englishmen to score for two different non-English clubs in the European Cup/Champions League, along with Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid).

Pedro Porro assisted the first of Tottenham’s goals in their 2-2 draw against Bodø/Glimt on MD2, while he has also created the most chances (4) and made the most line-breaking passes (18) of any Spurs player in the UEFA Champions League so far this season.

Eintracht Frankfurt v Liverpool

Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool have faced twice previously in Europe, with those meetings coming in the first round of the 1972-73 UEFA Cup. Liverpool progressed 2-0 on aggregate, after a 2-0 home win and a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture in Germany.

Liverpool have only lost one of their last 15 matches against German teams in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (W10 D4), a 4-2 defeat away to Bayer Leverkusen in April 2002. They have won the most recent five by an aggregate scoreline of 12-1, two of which came last season (1-0 v RB Leipzig and 4-0 v Bayer Leverkusen).

After not winning any of their first six away matches against German teams in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (D3 L3), Liverpool have won each of the last four in succession, including one last season (1-0 v RB Leipzig).

Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 5-1 by Atlético Madrid on matchday two of the current campaign; their joint-heaviest defeat in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (also 3-7 v Real Madrid in May 1960). Their xG against total versus Atlético (4.44) was the second worst by a team in a single game in the current edition, after Pafos (4.54) v Bayern Munich.

Liverpool have lost two of their last three games in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League (W1), including a defeat to Galatasaray last time out. This is as many defeats as they had suffered in their previous 30 matches in the group/league phase of the competition combined (W26 D2).

Excluding two own goals scored by the opposition, each of Eintracht Frankfurt’s four goals in the UEFA Champions League this season have either been netted or assisted by Jonathan Burkardt (two goals, one assist) or Ansgar Knauff (one goal, one assist).

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has lost (5) more games than he has won (4) away from home in the UEFA Champions League (nine matches in total), compared to seven victories in nine home games (L2) as a manager in the competition.

Jonathan Burkardt – who has netted in the first two matchdays this term – is one of only three Eintracht Frankfurt players to score in their first two appearances in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, along with Erich Bäumler in November 1959 and Erich Meier in March 1960.

Only Jamie Carragher (40) has made more away appearances for Liverpool in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League than Mohamed Salah (36), who is the club’s top scorer in away matches (22). The Egyptian has netted 15 goals in his last 19 games on the road in the Champions League.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown has won 11 of his 12 true tackles attempted in the UEFA Champions League this season, and is yet to be dribbled past. His true tackle win per centage was the highest of any player to attempt 10+ across the opening two matchdays this season (92 per cent).

Bayern Munich v Club Brugge

This will be just the third meeting between Bayern Munich and Club Brugge, after facing in the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League group stage. Bayern won 1-0 in the home meeting, before drawing 1-1 in Belgium.

Bayern Munich have won their five home games against Belgian sides in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League by an aggregate scoreline of 12-1. Indeed, the only Belgian side to score a goal away to Bayern across the two competitions was Anderlecht back in March 1986.

Belgian teams have lost seven of their eight away games against Bayern Munich in European competition, with the only exception being a 2-1 win for Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup in March 2008.

Bayern Munich have only lost one of their last 24 home matches in the UEFA Champions League (W18 D5), with that lone defeat coming against Internazionale in April (2-1). In the group/league phase, meanwhile, they are unbeaten in their last 35 home matches (W33 D2), since losing to Manchester City in December 2013 (3-2).

Club Brugge conceded an 87th-minute goal to lose against Atalanta on MD2 (2-1), after having taken a first half lead through Christos Tzolis. However, the Belgian side haven’t lost consecutive matches in the UEFA Champions League’s group/league phase since December 2021.

Bayern Munich have only kept a clean sheet in 25 per cent of their UEFA Champions League matches under Vincent Kompany (4/16); the joint-lowest per centage under a specific manager in the competition, along with Carlo Ancelotti (25 per cent - 3/12).

Since his first match for Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League in October 2023, Harry Kane has scored more goals (22) and been directly involved in more goals (27 – five assists) than any other player in the competition.

If he plays in this match, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (152) will move into the top five appearance makers in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history, overtaking Karim Benzema (152). If he ends on the winning side, meanwhile, he’ll overtake Iker Casillas (101) for most victories by a goalkeeper (currently on 101).

Against Atalanta on MD2, Brandon Mechele led all Club Brugge players for completed passes (61), duels won (9) and tackles (5), as well as making the joint-most clearances (7 – level with Kyriani Sabbe).

Michael Olise has been involved in 10 UEFA Champions League goals in 16 appearances for Bayern Munich (6 goals, 4 assists), despite only scoring or assisting in five of those games. It was the fewest games by a Frenchman to hit 10 goals and assists in the competition since current Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembélé in September 2018 (14 games).

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