Madrid keeps formula to try to repeat in Champions League

Only three points separated first place from third and it could be very close again this season.

– Napoli have only failed to score once in 14 Champions League games, that was against Arsenal in October 2013 (0-2).

– None of Napoli’s last 11 Champions League games has ended in a draw (W7 L4).

I’ve spoken to a lot of people who say this is a different team and club to last season. The star striker recently joined Juventus after a $99 million transfer, which was a record for Italian football.

The 25th edition of the Champions League is set to get underway and everything points to it being one of the most exciting competitions since its inception.

After a 5-1 win over fierce rival Rangers on Saturday, Celtic can look back to its win over Barcelona in the 2012 group stage.

Los Blancos have a ideal start to their La Liga season by winning their first three league games of the season. Chelsea is now second in the Premier League with nine points while Liverpool is fifth with seven points.

– This is the 19th time in the last 20 seasons that Bayern Munich are taking part in the Champions League, the only exception coming in 2007-08. I believe Los Blancos are up for a big win in their first Champions League match of 2016.

Liverpool and Manchester United are now in fifth and third place in the Premier League and the match, which is on October 17, is one of the best that week as both are trying to return to the Champions League.

There has been much ado lately about the well-being of the Champions League. On Wednesday, there are a few other great matches.

The aforementioned European Championships in the summer saw a defensive brand of football, with an average of just 2.12 goals per game, and while the format for that event did not particularly encourage attacking play, Atletico and Juventus can ensure the trend for defence to trump attack can permeate into the club game in 2016/17.

Madrid was drawn into Group F in this year’s Champions League, which also has Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw.

Here are our 2016-17 UEFA Champions League picks.

– Only Real Madrid have played more Champions League games (38) than Atleti (36) over the last three seasons. The following day, Atletico Madrid will be facing Bayern Munich in a rematch of last season’s semi final.

Nearly four months have passed since Real Madrid lifted Europe’s top honour for the 11th time when they defeated city rivals Atletico Madrid in a thrilling penalty shootout in May’s Champions League final.

Whilst Javier Mascherano has proved an able companion alongside Gerard Pique in Barcelona’s Champions League wins in 2011 and 2015, the new signing from Lyon already looks like he could be the ideal companion for the Spaniard.

The Europa League will begin on Thursday, September 15 and week one will have matches such as Feyenoord – Manchester United and Southampton – Sparta Prague.

Bruce Cuthbert, director commercial customers, BT Sport, said: “The UEFA Champions League and Europa League will give any venue a real boost to its midweek trade”.

Diego Simeone’s superbly-drilled team have been Europe’s best defensively for some time now and their ability to blunt other teams’ weapons has twice taken them to the brink of glory. Let us know in the comments section below.