The UEFA Champions League continues on Thursday, Sept. 19 with the last day of Matchday 1 under the new format with AS Monaco and FC Barcelona taking the pitch at Stade Louis-II in Monaco, France.
The match is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on TUDN and UniMás. Fans looking to watch can do so through FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but does have other promotional offers available.
Paramount+ offers exclusive live streams and on-demand replays of all UEFA Champions League matches and when you sign up, you get a free week trial.
This is the first year with the new league phase format instead of a Group Stage at the UEFA Champions League, along with the other UEFA tournaments. Starting with the 2024-25 competition, the tournament increases to 36 teams instead of 32, with each team playing eight matches against two teams from each the four seeding groups. It will also feature a playoff phase that includes 16 teams fighting for the final eight spots in the knockout phase, which starts in the Round of 16. The top eight in the table are automatically placed in the Round of 16 while ninth through 24th compete in the playoff, with the bottom 12 teams being eliminated.
When Matchday 2 comes around in early October, Barcelona will take on Young Boys and AS Monaco will go against GNK Dinamo.
Who: AS Monaco vs. Barcelona
When: Thursday, Sept. 19 at 3 p.m. EST
Where: Stade Louis-II in Monaco, France
Stream: FuboTV (free trial); DirecTV Stream (free trial); Paramount+ (free trial); Sling
What is FuboTV?
FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial, and $30 off the first month for new costumers.
What is DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.
What is SlingTV?
SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.
What is Paramount+?
Paramount+ is a streaming platform with hundreds of thousands of tv episodes and movies available along with the ability to access even more content through Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. Watch the NFL on CBS and the UEFA Champions League through the basic service, or upgrade for additional sporting events such as NWSL games and The Masters.
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Man City and Inter Milan draw 0-0 in goal-shy Champions League. PSG scores late to beat Girona
By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer
GENEVA (AP) — Where did all the goals go?
The 0-0 draws between Manchester City and Inter Milan in their rematch of the 2023 final, after Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk also could not find a goal, capped an untypically goal-shy evening for the Champions League on Wednesday.
Just 13 were scored in six games one day after 28 were fired in Tuesday, including nine by Bayern Munich alone.
How unusual was this? Two 0-0 draws after just 12 of 144 games to be played in the new league phase is already halfway to the total of four in 96 games one year ago in the group-stage format that is now abolished. The entire competition averaged three goals per game last season.
Paris Saint-Germain and Girona also were heading for a blank until a horrible 90th-minute error by the Spanish debutant’s goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga — spilling a cross by Nuno Mendes through his own legs — gifted a 1-0 win.
“We won’t get to where we want to overnight,” Girona coach Míchel said. “It requires hard work.”
Borussia Dortmund needed late goals from substitutes Jamie Gittens, twice, and Serhou Guirassy with a stoppage-time penalty to win 3-0 at Club Brugge.
The new format has welcomed new faces and long-absent friends in European soccer’s marquee competition.
Sparta Prague rose to the challenge of its first game for 19 years at this stage of the Champions League by beating Salzburg 3-0.
Bologna waited 60 years to return and deserved more for its attacking ambition against Champions League veteran Shakhtar. The Ukrainian champion had a penalty saved in the fourth minute by Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.
Slovan Bratislava was overmatched in its first game since 1992-93, the first season of the Champions League rebrand from the old European Cup, and with Georgia defender Guram Kashia making his competition debut at age 37.
They could not keep out Celtic, which won 5-1 in Glasgow. Ireland internationals Liam Scales and Adam Idah, Japan forwards Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda, and Arne Engels of Belgium scored for the champion of Scotland.
“The quality of the goals was sensational,” Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers said after just a fourth win in 33 Champions League games for the 1967 European Cup winner.
A rare Thursday slate of Champions League games will see Barcelona go to Monaco, Atalanta host Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen visit Feyenoord.
Six games on each of three straight nights are launching the new format. Now, 36 teams each play eight different opponents through January and are ranked in a single league table to decide which teams advance to the knockout phase.
Man City held in rare home shutout
There was nothing to separate the champions of England and Italy, 15 months after Man City beat Inter 1-0 in Istanbul to lift the European Cup trophy for the first time.
Ilkay Gundogan wasted two late chances for manager Pep Guardiola’s team, failing to convert two headed chances.
It was the first time City had failed to score at home in Europe’s elite tournament since being held 0-0 by Sporting Lisbon in March 2022, and just the second time at home in all competitions since then. The other was a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League in March.
But the result saw City extend its six-year unbeaten home run in European games to 32, dating to a 2-1 loss to Lyon.
“I’m pleased with our performance, I liked everything,” Guardiola said.
Dortmund keeps clean sheet, again, somehow
Dortmund’s defense had a Champions League-best six clean sheets last season on its way to the final, where Real Madrid found two late goals to take the title.
Somehow, goalkeeper Gregor Kobel kept out Brugge despite 18 goal attempts including a close-range shot by Hugo Vetlesen that rattled the cross bar in the 12th minute. Vetlesen’s effort ended a manic series of four shots in a matter of seconds from a corner including a diving save by Kobel.
The Switzerland ‘keeper’s five saves meant Dortmund did not pay for its own wastefulness in front of goal until taking the lead in the 76th from a Gittens shot that deflected off two defenders before looping past Simon Mignolet into the Brugge net.
Salzburg’s heavy load
Few clubs will play more international games this season than Salzburg, under its new coach Pep Lijnders, the former long-time assistant to Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Salzburg had to advance through two Champions League qualifying rounds in August — because its 10-year title run in Austria was ended by Sturm Graz — and will play at least three more games in June at the Club World Cup in the United States.
Salzburg qualified among 12 European teams going to the relaunched FIFA club event because of its consistent results in the past four Champions League seasons, but was upstaged in Prague.
“A few of our players were playing their first game for the club,” Lijnders said. “It’s a new team we need to build it.”
Sparta came through three qualifying rounds, and six games already, to reach this stage and made a sharp start Wednesday scoring within two minutes to set the tone for an easy win.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
