5️⃣ things to look out for in Tuesday's Champions League action 💫 | OneFootball

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The first ever play-off round phase of the Champions League takes place this week with eight ties split across Tuesday and Wednesday.

We look at what is on offer on the opening night of action.

⚔️ Match of the Day

There's no doubt that the blockbuster tie of this stage comes with the first leg at the Etihad Stadium between Manchester City and Real Madrid.

It pits the holders against the Premier League champions. Erling Haaland in direct competition with Kylian Mbappé. A first meeting since the infamous Rodri-Vinícius Júnior Ballon d'Or spat.

It is a fixture that would be befitting of the final itself but for one of these clubs, they will suffer the indignity of an early exit before the knockout phase truly begins.

They have met for each of the past three seasons and the fixtures have rarely disappointed. Interestingly, on all of those occasions the victor of this tie has gone on to lift the trophy.

🔎 Team to Watch

📸 Christof Koepsel - 2025 Getty Images

Who knows anymore what we are going to get from Borussia Dortmund.

Last season's finalists have been so abject this season that Opta has projected them to have just a 5.1% chance of qualifying for the competition next season via the traditional domestic route.

That may leave them needing to win the Champions League to make sure they don't suffer a season on the outside but even a meeting with Sporting CP poses a very difficult challenge.

There is a new man in charge now following Niko Kovač's appointment but he suffered a loss at home last Saturday against Stuttgart during his first game so it is anyone's guess what they will offer in Lisbon.

🔥 Player to Watch

Off the back of his Ligue 1 Player of the Month award, it has to be Ousmane Dembélé, who goes into PSG's all-France affair with Brest in blisteringly hot form.

He has scored 13 goals in his last seven games: netting at least once in each of them.

There has been a tough of misfortune for him in this competition so far, hitting the woodwork more times (three) than any other player this season but the signs are very ominous for Brest in this one.

Not only did Dembélé score a hat-trick in his last Champions League outing two weeks ago, he also left with the match ball just last week against Tuesday's opponents too.

👀 Potential upset

PSV and Juventus have already met in this year's competition when the Dutch outfit were defeated 3-1 in Turin on the opening night of the new-look tournament.

"That was one of our worst performances," head coach Peter Bosz said when reflecting on that loss. "We've really grown as a team since then and are playing much better. Juventus are a strong side but we believe we're better than them."

He has plenty of reasons for such confidence despite their underdog status, particularly against a Bianconeri side who are still not producing what was expected of them when Thiago Motta took over last summer.

They ended Liverpool's 100% record in the final fixture of the league phase with a 3-2 win and are on a six-game unbeaten run. PSV are in much better shape for this visit to the peninsula.

📊 Fascinating stat

Despite only losing three of their 12 games against Real Madrid in the Champions League, Man City have still been eliminated three times by them in the knockout stages: more than any other side.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors