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As the top European clubs compete in the Uefa Champions League, it is hardly surprising that every match day throws up a mouth-watering game.
With the first round of matches taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, the stand-out fixture sees the 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund take on the five-time champions Barcelona in their Group F match on Tuesday in the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany.
Both sides have a host of international stars in their squads and one of the most keenly watched duels will be that between Germany goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and Spanish international striker Paco Alcácer.
The striker has been in fine form this season, scoring four league goals and adding a brace in Spains’ 4-0 win against the Faroe Islands in a Euro qualifier midweek, while Ter Stegen is considered to be the second-highest valued goalkeeper in the world.
However, when Ter Stegen and Alcácer face each other on Tuesday, they will not – as could be expected – line up for the Bundesliga and La Liga sides, respectively. Instead, the German international will be in goals for Barcelona, while Alcácer will be trying to score goals for Dortmund.
What makes the match up even more intriguing is that the two were previously team-mates at Barcelona before Alcácer joined Dortmund on loan last year. He was bought outright this season.
Alcácer, who saw his game time limited at Barcelona as he found himself behind Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez in the strikers’ pecking order, told Spanish media this week that he was looking forward to the game.
“It feels like you’re meeting your classmates; the friends you left behind. It’s a special game – playing against a team is all about joy, enthusiasm and a desire to play well,” the 26-year-old said.
Alcácer will probably not get an opportunity to showcase his talents against Messi, as the Argentine superstar has yet to play this season due to injury. Although both teams have been regular competitors in the Champions League for many years, they have only faced each other twice in Europe.
That was in 1998, when the Uefa Super Cup was still contested over two legs. The first match in Dortmund ended in a 1-1 draw, while Barcelona won the return leg 2-0 at Camp Nou.
With Inter Milan and Slavia Prague the two other teams in the group, Dortmund will be under pressure to better those results.
There are, of course, several other high-profile matches coming up this week in the Champions League, with perennial losers Atlético Madrid – who have lost all three finals – taking on Serie A champions Juventus, who have lost even more finals in the competition (seven). But the Old Lady at least also has two wins.
The other two teams in Group D are Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow.
Liverpool begin their title defence away to Napoli on Tuesday in Group E, with the other match seeing Red Bull Salzburg taking on Anele Ngcongca’s former club Genk.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, whose side faced Napoli en route to victory last year, said they were obviously a very experienced team.
“Napoli, I do not know how many times I have played them,” Klopp said after the draw. They have played them four times – twice last season and twice with Borussia Dortmund in the 2013/14 group phase.
“Napoli are a really good team and the home game against Napoli was one of the best games we played last season,” he said.
Tottenham Hotspur, who were beaten by the Reds in the final in Baku last year, are away to Greek club Olympiacos in their opening Group B match on Wednesday.
Like Dortmund, Spurs can not afford to slip up in Piraeus as, with Bayern Munich at home to Crvena zvezda, they have another formidable opponent in the group.
