Geneva, Oct. 13: The soccer schedule gods had a sense of humor making Manchester City's return to the Champions League after a devastating verdict of financial rule-breaking a game against Paris Saint-Germain.
Man City hosts title holder PSG on Wednesday in a standout meeting of Middle East state-backed clubs who were on parallel narratives for much of the past 15 years that now have wildly diverged.
Barcelona is still Europe's best team this season five weeks after the opening round of Champions League games and takes a run of nine straight wins to Galatasaray on Tuesday.
Arsenal hosts Lille on Tuesday looking for a 14th straight win in the league phase across all three seasons of the current format.
Bayern Munich also plays Tuesday, at Norwegian champion Viking, and Real Madrid has a Wednesday visit to one of coach José Mourinho's former clubs Roma.
Tale of two cities
Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain had much in common before combining to win three of the past four Champions League titles. They had won none in the previous 67 seasons of the marquee competition.
They were underachieving big city clubs transformed by soccer's new wave of petrostate wealth: Man City in 2008 backed by Abu Dhabi's royal family and a Qatari takeover of PSG in 2011.
Ambitious investment with sponsors from home created issues complying with UEFA's new Financial Fair Play rules and both were fined 20 million euros ($22.4 million) in 2014.
Each lost their first Champions League final — PSG to Bayern in 2020 and Man City the next year to Chelsea — then broke through in title games against Inter Milan led by coaches who previously won it with Barcelona. Man City won in 2023 and PSG in 2025.
Under Luis Enrique, PSG is playing widely admired soccer chasing a hat trick of European titles.
Just months after Pep Guardiola left, Man City risks becoming a pariah after long-held suspicion about the club's financial success was proven last month by a Premier League tribunal. The pending sanctions could force years of Champions League exile for the club, which is appealing.
City connection to Gala vs. Barca
Rodri and Ilkay Gündgoan were the heart of Man City's midfield in the 2023 final and the Spanish star scored the only goal in Istanbul to defeat Inter.
On Tuesday they will be back in Istanbul but on opposite sides when Gündoğan and Turkish champion Galatasaray welcome Barcelona, having added Rodri in the offseason to an already
powerful lineup.
Barcelona is averaging more than four goals scored per game this season, and started the Champions League beating Feyenoord 5-1.
Norway vs. Germany doubleheader, again
Viking and Bodø/Glimt are locked in a fascinating fight for the Norwegian league title that has eight more rounds to run until December.
They get a break in the Champions League from identical records in their domestic title race: Same numbers of points, wins, draws, losses, goals scored and conceded.
Germany sends its two powers due north this week for testing games on artificial turf: Viking hosts Bayern Munich in Stavanger on Tuesday and Bodø /Glimt welcomes Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
It's back-to-back Norway-Germany duels after Bayern opened last month beating Bodø /Glimt 5-0 and Viking lost 3-1 at Stuttgart.
Shakhtar's latest home away from home
Shakhtar Donetsk is making the first of four treks to play home games in London when it hosts AEK Athens at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.
Shakhtar has not played in Donetsk since the first Russian incursion there in 2014, and cannot play UEFA competition games in Ukraine during the full military invasion which began in February 2022.
The Ukrainian champion is among three teams playing in borrowed home stadiums this week.
The Real Betis stadium is being renovated and so Porto will be hosted Wednesday at La Cartuja stadium in Seville. That was used at the European Championship played in 2021 and likely will be a venue at the 2030 World Cup.
Sabah plays Slavia Prague on Tuesday in Baku, at the 69,000-seat Olympic Stadium, because its home in the city of Masazir does not meet UEFA standards.
Atletico and Lille struggle
This season's final will be played at Atletico Madrid's stadium on June 5 and the Metropolitano hosts its first game in this edition Tuesday, when Manchester United visit.
Atletico and Lille, which visits Arsenal on Tuesday, both have long winless runs in England — at least, before the knockout stage.
Lille lost its last eight games away to English teams since a 0-0 draw 21 years ago at Man United in a Champions League group.
Atletico never won a Champions League main phase game against an English team in 11 attempts since 2008. That changes in the knockout rounds.
Coach Diego Simeone's team routinely eliminates English teams — Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Man United, Tottenham — in the second half of the season. AP
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