Champions League matchday 3 preview: PSG vs Barcelona, Bayern vs Arsenal and the table after two rounds
SportPulses Desk··7 min
Nine clubs have six points from two games. Matchday 3 on 20-21 October brings two meetings between perfect teams, a Manchester City side under pressure, and Inter and Napoli still looking for their first point.
Two rounds into the 36-team league phase, the Champions League table already has a clear shape. Nine clubs have won both of their games: Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Sporting CP, Stuttgart and Real Betis. At the other end, Inter and Napoli have lost both and are among the clubs still on zero points.
Matchday 3 is played on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October. Early games kick off at 18:45 CEST (00:45 Beijing time the next day) and the rest at 21:00 CEST (03:00 Beijing time).
How matchday 2 changed the picture
The headline result came at the Etihad, where PSG beat Manchester City 4-2. Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha put PSG three goals up inside the first half-hour, and Maghnes Akliouche added a fourth before Erling Haaland scored twice. City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma also saved a penalty from Ferran Torres. It was City’s first home game since the Premier League announced on 29 September that the club had been found guilty of serious breaches of its financial rules; sanctions have not yet been decided and City have said they will appeal.
Real Madrid needed a late comeback in Rome. Kylian Mbappé scored on his 100th Champions League appearance, but Roma led 3-1 inside the final 10 minutes after two goals from Donyell Malen. Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger, with a last-minute winner, turned it into a 4-3 Madrid win. Elsewhere, Liverpool won 6-3 at LASK with a hat-trick from summer signing Bradley Barcola, and Aston Villa beat Fenerbahçe 6-0, the club’s biggest win in European competition.
Tuesday: PSG vs Barcelona
The tie of the round brings together two clubs with maximum points. PSG have scored ten goals in two games, while Barcelona arrive unbeaten in all competitions, having won all nine of their La Liga games so far, and came from behind to beat Galatasaray 4-1 last week. Lamine Yamal, who set up two goals in Istanbul, is the player to watch. With El Clásico at Camp Nou five days later, how Barcelona manage their squad is part of the story.
Also on Tuesday: Liverpool host Villarreal, Stuttgart welcome Atlético Madrid, and Napoli need a first point at home to Bodø/Glimt, who beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 last time out. Manchester City host AEK Athens, a game they are expected to win as they try to move on from the PSG defeat.
Wednesday: Bayern vs Arsenal
Arsenal have six points and have not conceded in Europe this season after wins at Napoli and at home to Lille. Bayern, held 3-3 by Viking last week after Michael Olise was sent off, have four points and will want a response at the Allianz Arena. Harry Kane, who scored twice in Norway, faces a defence that has kept clean sheets in both European games.
Real Madrid host RB Leipzig in their last game before the Clásico, Inter need points at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, and Como, beaten 3-2 at Feyenoord, host Manchester United, who lost 2-0 in Madrid last week.
What is at stake
With eight games per club, three points in round three matter. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, while 9th to 24th go into a two-legged play-off. In 2024-25, the first season of this format, the club in eighth place finished on 16 points, so the teams on six points can move past halfway to that mark with a win this week.