Bayern Munich and Napoli, Italy, are seeking to get closer to the Champions League final, while Inter Milan and Barcelona are in a semi-decisive summit. The Bavarian club and the southern Italian team hit hard in the first and second rounds with the full mark in the third and first groups, respectively.
Bayern is waiting for an easy match at home against Czech Viktoria Plzen, while Napoli will visit Ajax Amsterdam in a fraught journey.
Bayern, the champion 6 times, most recently in 2020, appears to be a candidate to reserve the first card for its continental group, as it will meet Victoria Plzen on the latter’s land in the fourth round on October 12, in addition to benefiting from the two direct confrontations between its direct pursuers Inter and Barcelona.
Inter, crowned with the title three times, most recently in 2010, enters its match against the Catalan club, the owner of five titles, the last of which was in 2015, with shaky spirits, after suffering its second loss in a row and the third in its last four matches in the league and the fifth in ten matches in various competitions this season, when it fell to Roma hosts 1-2 at the “Giuseppe Meazza” stadium in Milan.
And his coach Simone Inzaghi, whose dismissal has increased in light of the administration’s clinging to his services, will be forced to win the three points, especially as he plays on his home ground, to revive his chances of skipping the first round, waiting for the fourth round match in Barcelona next Wednesday.
Napoli hopes to continue its good performances this season in various competitions, when it hosts Ajax Amsterdam in the first group competition, which it leads with two big wins over its guest Liverpool 4-1 and its Scottish host Rangers 3-0.
In the same group, Liverpool, crowned six times, most recently in 2019, will be required to beat its Scottish guest, Rangers, to hit two birds with one stone. . Like Bayern Munich and Naples, Belgium’s Club Brugge, Group B’s surprise, and Sporting Portugal aspire to win the third successive victory when the first hosts Atletico Madrid in a difficult test, and the second hosts Marseille in a difficult task.
On the other hand, Porto, the champion of the competition in 1987 and 2004, hopes to achieve its first victory after two consecutive losses when it hosts Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, while Tottenham Hotspur, the 2019 runner-up, seeks to break the partnership with its host, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the fourth group.