UEFA Champions League 2026-27: Matchday 3 Previews
Several clubs proved their resilience with mixed results in the previous Champions League fixtures. SCP defeated Lens, and Sabah claimed a victory against Slavia Praha in their most recent game. Galatasaray lost to Barcelona in their latest fixture. RB Leipzig defeated PSV, while Arsenal defeated LOSC. Atlético beat Manchester United 2-0 in their previous game. Villarreal defeated Napoli, while Viking played out a 3-3 draw against Bayern in their previous match.
Inter suffered a defeat to Club Brugge in their Matchday 2 Champions League fixture. Liverpool defeated LASK, and Feyenoord beat Como in their most recent game. Shakhtar Donetsk claimed a win over AEK, and Betis defeated Porto. Roma suffered a defeat against Real Madrid in their most recent game. Slovan Bratislava lost to VfB Stuttgart, while Aston Villa defeated Fenerbahçe. PSG defeated Man City, and Bodø/Glimt claimed a win against Dortmund in their latest games.
Matchday Schedules
Fixtures
Dates
Time Zone ET
Time Zone PT
Time Zone IST
Locations
Sabah vs Dortmund
October 20, 2026
12:45 PM
09:45 AM
10:15 PM
Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku.
Fenerbahçe vs Slavia Praha
October 20, 2026
12:45 PM
09:45 AM
10:15 PM
Chobani Stadyumu FB Sukru Saracoglu Spor Kompleksi, Turkey.
PSG vs Barcelona
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Parc des Princes, Paris.
Man City vs AEK
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
Napoli vs Bodø/Glimt
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples.
Porto vs PSV
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Estádio do Dragão, Porto.
Roma vs Slovan Bratislava
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
Liverpool vs Villarreal
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Anfield, Liverpool.
VfB Stuttgart vs Atlético
October 20, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
MHPArena, Stuttgart.
Como vs Man Utd
October 21, 2026
12:45 PM
09:45 AM
10:15 PM
Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como.
LOSC vs Galatasaray
October 21, 2026
12:45 PM
09:45 AM
10:15 PM
Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d’Ascq.
SCP vs LASK
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon.
Betis vs Feyenoord
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville.
Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
San Siro, Milan.
Bayern vs Arsenal
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Allianz Arena, Munich.
Aston Villa vs Viking
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Villa Park, Birmingham.
Club Brugge vs Lens
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges.
Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig
October 21, 2026
03:00 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 AM (Next Day)
Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid.
Significant Teams and Possible Lineups
PSG vs Barcelona
Date: October 20, 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 03:00 PM ET| 12:00 PM PT| 12:30 AM IST (Next Day)
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris.
Projected Lineups for PSG
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Alessandro Longoni, Lucas Chevalier, Matvei Safonov, Arthur Vignaud, and Adam Mouak
Defenders
Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, Marquinhos, Illia Zabarnyi, Lucas Digne, Lucas Hernández, Nuno Mendes, David Boly, and Willian Pacho
Midfielders
Fabián Ruiz, Maghnes Akliouche, Vitinha, Senny Mayulu, Dro Fernández, Warren Zaïre-Emery, and João Neves
Forwards
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ferran Torres, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Mika Godts, and Quentin Ndjantou
Projected Lineups for Barcelona
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Joan García, Wojciech Szczęsny, Dominik Livaković, Eder Aller, and Iker Rodriguez
Defenders
João Cancelo, Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsí, Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martín, Jules Koundé, Eric García, Pesquer, Landry Farré, Guillem Victor, and Alex Campos
Midfielders
Brian Fariñas, Gavi, Pedri, Rodri, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Bernal, Orian Goren, and Pedro Villar
Forwards
Fermín López, Gabriel Jesus, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Karim Adeyemi, Anthony Gordon, Dani Olmo, Jesse Bisiwu, Hamza Abdelkarim, and Shane Kluivert
Previous Games
PSG defeated Man City in their latest fixture. Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, and Maghnes Akliouche scored for PSG. Erling Haaland scored twice for Man City. PSG is currently sitting 6th in the Ligue 1 standings with 11 points. They have shown strong form in both domestic and European competitions. In their last five games, PSG have recorded three consecutive wins, one draw, and one loss. By contrast, Barcelona defeated Galatasaray in a UEFA Champions League game. João Cancelo, Fermín López, Anthony Gordon, and Karim Adeyemi scored for Barcelona. Aleksey Batrakov found the net for Galatasaray. PSG have a home advantage, and they will win their upcoming game.
The Pick: PSG
Man City vs AEK
Date: October 20, 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 03:00 PM ET| 12:00 PM PT|12:30 AM IST (Next Day)
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
Projected Lineups for Man City
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marcus Bettinelli, Gerónimo Rulli, and Max-Edgar Chabot
Defenders
Rúben Dias, Marc Guéhi, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Joško Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov, Kaden Braithwaite, and Rico Lewis
Midfielders
Elliot Anderson, Mateo Kovačić, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, Enzo Fernández, Matheus Nunes, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Nico O’Reilly, Phil Foden, and Floyd Samba
Forwards
Iliman Ndiaye, Erling Haaland, Allan Elias, Antoine Semenyo, and Ryan McAidoo
Projected Lineups for AEK
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Thomas Strakosha, Marios Balamotis, and Alberto Brignoli
Defenders
Harold Moukoudi, Stavros Pilios, Lazaros Rota, Domagoj Vida, Charalampos Lykogiannis, and Filipe Relvas
Luka Jović, Oleksandr Zubkov, Aboubakary Koita, Barnabás Varga, João Mário, and Zini
Previous Games
Man City defeated Liverpool in their latest game. Man City recorded more shots and shots on target. Man City enjoyed greater possession, higher passing accuracy, and more corner kicks throughout the game. Liverpool registered fewer shots and shots on target. They had less possession, lower passing accuracy, and fewer corner kicks than Man City. In addition, Man City has shown consistency in both domestic and European competitions. AEK lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League fixture. AEK recorded fewer shots and fewer shots on target. They had less possession and lower passing accuracy than Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar Donetsk registered more shots and shots on target. They had more possession, higher passing accuracy, and more corner kicks.
The Pick: Man City
Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Date: October 21, 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 03:00 PM ET| 12:00 PM PT| 12:30 AM IST (Next Day)
Venue: San Siro, Milan.
Projected Lineups for Inter
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Josep Martínez, Raffaele Di Gennaro, and Ivan Provedel
Defenders
John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Benjamin Pavard, Carlos Augusto, Yann Bisseck, Federico Dimarco, Leonardo Bovio, Mattia Marello, Alessandro Bastoni, and Djed Spence
Midfielders
Aleksandar Stanković, Piotr Zieliński, Petar Sučić, Andy Diouf, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Curtis Jones, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Nicolò Barella
Forwards
Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martínez, Luis Henrique, Ange-Yoan Bonny, and Pio Esposito
Projected Lineups for Shakhtar Donetsk
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Kiril Fesiun, Dmytro Riznyk, and Rostyslav Bahlai
Defenders
Marlon Santos, Valeriy Bondar, Pedro Henrique, Irakli Azarov, Vinícius Tobías, Alaa Ghram, Oleksandr Karavaiev, and Mykola Matviyenko
Midfielders
Marlon Gomes, Dmytro Kryskiv, Pedrinho, Newertton, Isaque, Viktor Tsukanov, Gabriel Carvalho, Oleh Ocheretko, Yehor Nazaryna, Alisson Santana, Lucas Ferreira, Denys Smetana, Ryan Roberto, Gleiker Mendoza, and Bruninho
Forwards
Lassina Traoré, Kauã Elias, and Luca Meirelles
Previous Games
Inter defeated Parma in their most recent game. Petar Sučić, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and Marcus Thuram each found the net for Inter. Parma failed to score throughout the match. Inter Milan have also shown strong form in both domestic and European competitions. Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Veres Rivne in their latest fixture. Pedrinho scored twice, while Mykola Matviyenko also found the net for Shakhtar Donetsk. Rostyslav Baran received a red card while representing Veres Rivne. With a home advantage, Inter Milan will aim to earn a victory in their forthcoming fixture.
The Pick: Inter
Bayern vs Arsenal
Date: October 21, 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 03:00 PM ET| 12:00 PM PT| 12:30 AM IST (Next Day)
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich.
Projected Lineups for Bayern
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Manuel Neuer, Sven Ulreich, David Poder-Stiube, and Jonas Urbig
Defenders
Dayot Upamecano, Minjae Kim, Jonathan Tah, Nathaniel Brown, Hiroki Ito, Sacha Boey, Cassiano Kiala, Filip Pavić, and Josip Stanišić
Midfielders
Joshua Kimmich, Tom Bischof, Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise, Alphonso Davies, Konrad Laimer, Ismael Saibari, Bara Sapoko Ndiaye, Lennart Karl, Aleksandar Pavlović, Tim Binder, and David Daiber
Forwards
Serge Gnabry, Harry Kane, Luis Díaz, Bastian Assomo, and Maycon Cardozo
Projected Lineups for Arsenal
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
David Raya, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Illan Meslier, Khari Ranson, Jack Porter, and Jack Talbot
Defenders
William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Piero Hincapié, Gabriel, Jurriën Timber, Ezri Konsa, Riccardo Calafiori, Brayden Clarke, Joshua Ogunnaike, Josiah King, Teshaun Murisa, Abraham Owusu-Gyasi, Patrick Stachow, Joshua Tahou, Hakeem Abubakar, Elyon Mbala, Marli Salmon, and Joshua Sesay
Midfielders
Martin Ødegaard, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Mikel Merino, Kai Havertz, Martín Zubimendi, Bruno Guimarães, Declan Rice, Andre Annous, Ife Ibrahim, Theo Julienne, Louie Copley, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Max Dowman, Brando Bailey-Joseph, Maalik Hashi, Saurap Sampang, Emerson Nwaneri, and Charlie Purdy
Forwards
Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyökeres, Christos Tzolis, Ceadach O’Neill, Louis Zečević-John, Marley Frohock, Bowen Phillips, and Jayden Oba
Previous Games
Bayern played out a 3-3 draw against Viking in a UEFA Champions League match. Bayern currently sit tenth in the Champions League standings with four points. Meanwhile, Arsenal defeated LOSC in their most recent fixture. Arsenal currently sits seventh in the UEFA Champions League standings with six points.
The Pick: Bayern
Final Thoughts
Several teams and coaches will face tough tests in the upcoming Matchday 3 Champions League games. Napoli will host Bodø/Glimt on October 20. Which team will secure a win? Napoli, a Serie A team, will aim to maintain its winning streak in this matchup. Liverpool will host Villarreal on October 20. Liverpool will bounce back in their Matchday 3 fixture.
In another key matchup, VfB Stuttgart will host Atlético on October 20. Aston Villa will host Viking on October 21. Which team will secure a victory? Real Madrid will host RB Leipzig on October 21.