The UEFA Champions League officially kicked off on Tuesday with holder Real Madrid sending a strong signal to the rest of the field with a dominating 5-1 win against Basel. On Wednesday, powerhouse squads Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City will all see action.
Chelsea, who is one of the teams to watch this season after performing well in the Barclays Premier League, will start their campaign against Schalke 04 at Stamford Bridge in England.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is eyeing a unique achievement this year as he is aiming to win his third title with three different clubs. He believes that the Blues are capable of winning the Champions League this year, but the veteran coach said that they are going to take it one step at a time.
"I have so many years ahead of me in terms of career. Obviously I have the ambition to win it again," Mourinho said. "But in this moment, I only think about not playing in the Europa League. I want my club to succeed in the group stage. It would be very bad for the evolution of the group and the players to go into the Europa League, and for the club's prestige."
The 51-year-old Mourinho, who is in his second stint as Blues manager, won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 and with Inter Milan in 2010.
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona will also start their campaign Thursday against Apoel Nicosia at Camp Nou in Spain.
FC Barcelona, who lost in the semifinals last season, will be a heavy favorite heading into the showdown, but coach Luis Enrique that there is no room for complacency for them.
"We need our fans and we'll try to give them a spectacular game - three points against APOEL would be very important for us," Enrique said. "If we play intensely and get into our rhythm then I'm sure we'll be on the way to victory. But if our opponents get the better of us in certain aspects, then we could well end up suffering."
German champions Bayern Munich and Barclay Premier League champions Manchester City will collide with each other in one of the notable matches on Thursday at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
Below is the complete schedule for Wednesday.
- AS Roma vs CSKA Moscow
- Bayern Munich vs Manchester City
- Ajax Amsterdam vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Barcelona vs Apoel Nicosia
- Chelsea vs Schalke 04
- NK Maribor vs Sporting Lisbon
- Athletic Bilbao vs Shakhtar Donetsk
- FC Porto vs BATE Borisov
All matches are scheduled to start at 2:45 PM EST and will be available via online streaming on UEFA Live and Fox Sports Go.
