Nigerian duo Henry Onyekuru, and defender, Chidozie Awaziem are set for action on Wednesday night, when day two of MD 2 in the UEFA Champions League kicks off.
The two will meet when FC Porto host Onyekuru’s Galatasaray in Portugal with the Turkish side looking to consolidate on their opening day win while Awaziem’s Porto search for their first win of the campaign in one of two Group D matches later today.
The other group game will involve another Nigerian, Bryan Idowu, whose Locomotiv Moscow side hosts German outfit, Schalke 04.
These are two of eight games slated for tonight, with the tastiest clash in group B, where English side, Tottenham hosts La Liga giants, Barcelona at Wembley.
GROUP A
Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco
Dortmund go into Match Day 2 following an impressive 1-0 win at Club Brugge while Monaco look to bounce back from an opening day defeat to Atletico Madrid.
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Having met twice in the quarterfinals in 16/17 season with Monaco winning both games, Dortmund will be hoping to get one over the French side this time considering their impeccable form.
Dortmund go into this tie with four wins and a draw scoring 16 goals while Monaco have been quite poor with three losses and two draws; scoring three in the last five games.
Atletico Madrid vs Club Brugge
A 2-1 away at Monaco handed Atletico Madrid an opening day win and will look to continue in that way as they welcome Club Brugge to the Wanda Metropolitano.
📡 💬| PRESS CONFERENCE
🎙 @diegogodin: “We're in an ideal situation after winning away from home. Now we will play at our stadium with our fans"
➡️ https://t.co/niaZMLRpni #AúpaAtleti #AtletiBrujas #UCL pic.twitter.com/FDrj3CcY9m— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) October 2, 2018
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It’s been quite even between both sides in previous meetings with two wins apiece. The away side have however lost their last seven UEFA Champions League games.
In the last five games coming into this tie, both teams have racked up three wins with the other two games being draws and losses for Atletico and Club Brugge respectively.
GROUP B
Tottenham Hotspur vs Barcelona
Injury plagued Spurs will look to right the wrongs at Wembley on Wednesday night after a painful last minute loss at Inter on the opening day. Barcelona on the other hand will go all out to consolidate their opening day thrashing of PSV Eindhoven.
🗣️ "To play against Barcelona, it's a massive motivation."
Mauricio previews tomorrow's @ChampionsLeague clash.#COYS pic.twitter.com/v4JRbFjlZo
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 2, 2018
Spurs will however be missing the services of key players like Dele Alli (hamstring), Serge Aurier (thigh), Moussa Dembele (thigh), Christian Eriksen (abdomen) and Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) who are all ruled out of tonight’s action. However, Hugo Lloris is back and available for selection.
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Both teams have only previously met twice with Barcelona having the upper hand with a win and a draw.
In the last five games, Spurs have had two losses recovering well with three wins on the bounce. Their Spanish opponents have however not been too convincing with two wins followed by two draws and a loss.
PSV Eindhoven vs Inter Milan
Inter boosted by the last minute comeback against Tottenham come up against a deflated PSV side following the opening day 4-0 loss to Barcelona.
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Inter defeated PSV twice in the group stage in 2007/2008 season and both teams go into this one on a good run if form with one loss and four wins.
Group C
Napoli vs Liverpool
After their opening day dramatic home win against Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool travel to Naples in Italy, where the clash with SS Napoli, who were held to a goalless draw by Crvena Zvezda.
It is the third competitive meeting between the teams, one win for the Reds and a draw on the previous two matches. But in their most recent meeting, Jurgen Klopp side put five goals past the team managed by Carlo Ancelotti in a friendly.
That result is something Klopp is not reading any meanings into ahead of the tie tonight.
PSG vs Zvezda
Led my world most expensive player, Neymar, French giants PSG welcome Zvezda looking for their first win following that disappointing collapse an Anfield on match day one.
It is their first meeting, with the French champions also meeting their first opposition from Serbia in any competition.
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Schalke 04
Idowu and his Russian side will be looking to get off the mark when they host Bundesliga side, Schalke 04.
In their opening matches, Lokomotiv lost to Galatasaray while Schalke held Porto to a draw. So, both meet for the first time in European competition tonight with the hope of registering their respective first win of the season.
Porto vs Galatasaray
It’s Awaziem against Onyekuru at Estadio do Dragao, home of Portuguese giants, FC Porto.
Just touched down in Porto with my🦁🦁💛❤️#uefachampionsleague pic.twitter.com/pDEV7CuU34
— Henry Onyekuru (@henryconyekuru) October 2, 2018
Porto and Galatasaray will be facing each other for the first time, but the visitors are no strangers to Portuguese opposition with their hosts set to be their third having faced Porto’s fiercest rivals, Benfica and SC Braga.
