With the 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League kicking off in a matter of hours, it feels like the European club season really gets started in earnest today. Scroll down for all eight of today’s fixtures (with eight more matches tomorrow).
For an overview of the tournament (and to help you plan your next two months of relevant Tuesdays & Wednesday), see UEFA’s fancy interactive tournament calendar. Here is a screengrab of the top half (Groups A-D, the ones in action today), but click thru for the full thing, plus the interactivity (e.g., rolling over a club highlights their fixtures, such as with Real Madrid shown below):
A few links, all from the Guardian, to get you ready for this week’s fixtures:
- A listicle: Ten things to look out for in the Champions League this week
- Yesterday’s Guardian Football Weekly podcast–includes reviews/previews of the English clubs’ matches (Arse, Chelsea, City, Manchester Utd); Sid Lowe calling in from Madrid to discuss Real Madrid’s surprising struggles; and plenty of Serie A discussion (Juve and Milan are the Italian Champions League reps, but they also touch upon Lazio, Roma, and Napoli)
- Michael Cox (he of ZonalMarking.net) on the managerial battle behind the match of the day: “José Mourinho v Roberto Mancini: this one is personal“
Yes, Real Madrid hosting Manchester City is without a doubt the match of the day–two of the handful of squads whose legitimate goal is to win the whole tournament. Both won their leagues last season, but stumbled in Europe–and have stumbled already in their leagues.
Here are all today’s fixtures via uefa.com:
| Dinamo Zagreb |  |
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Porto | |
| Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA) – Stadium: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb (CRO) | ||||
| PSG |  |
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Dynamo Kyiv | |
| Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED) – Stadium: Parc des Princes, Paris (FRA) | ||||
| Montpellier |  |
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Arsenal | |
| Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) – Stadium: La Mosson, Montpellier (FRA) | ||||
| Olympiacos |  |
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Schalke | |
| Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP) – Stadium: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus (GRE) | ||||
| Málaga |  |
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Zenit | |
| Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG) – Stadium: La Rosaleda, Malaga (ESP) | ||||
| Milan |  |
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Anderlecht | |
| Referee: William Collum (SCO) – Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan (ITA) | ||||
| Dortmund |  |
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Ajax | |
| Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA) – Stadium: BVB Stadion Dortmund, Dortmund (GER) | ||||
| Real Madrid |  |
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Man. City | |
| Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN) – Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid (ESP) | ||||
