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Champions League preview week 4 – Unbeaten Liverpool face Atletico Madrid while struggling Manchester United travel to Italy to play Atalanta

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The Champions League is back after a short break, with the group stages now surpassing their halfway point as the final tables start to take shape.

In Group B, Liverpool are still yet to lose – in any competition this season let alone in Europe – and they will look to continue this against Atletico Madrid.

They welcome the Spanish champions to Anfield on Wednesday night, looking to make it four wins out of four in this season’s group stage.

The other fixture in that group sees third placed Porto take on fourth placed AC Milan, who are yet to record a single point.

A loss on Wednesday would almost definitely put an end to Milan’s hopes of reaching the final 16, also damaging their chances of qualifying for the Europa League through finishing third.

Manchester United have looked lacklustre in the Champions League so far, but they have managed to scrape wins against Villarreal and Atalanta.

They travel to Atalanta on Tuesday night, needing a win to put some distance between themselves and the Italian club down in third.

Villarreal host BSC Young Boys in the other Group F fixture.

The other English club in action on Tuesday night is Chelsea, who travel to Sweden to face Malmo.

The Blues are currently second in Group H, behind Juventus who are only the second side to beat them in the competition under Thomas Tuchel.

Juventus have won all three of their group stage matches and will hope to continue this form when they take on Zenit St. Petersburg.

Manchester City are the final English club in action this week, taking on Club Brugge on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side are second in Group A behind PSG but would effectively confirm their qualification if they beat their Belgian opponents.

In the other match in the group, PSG travel to Germany to take on RB Leipzig, having won two of their first three games,

Another win would also see them all-but confirm their place in the round of 16, depending on City’s result against Brugge.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich can seal their place in the knockout stages with a win over Benfica in Group E.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side have won their first three games in convincing fashion, looking like the strongest team currently in the tournament.

Barcelona have been the opposite of strong, only winning one game so far and losing their other two matches, making it their worst start to a Champions League campaign in their history.

They travel to Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday night, needing a win to put their qualification hopes back on track.

In Group D, 13-time Champions League winners Real Madrid take on Shakhtar Donetsk, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the group.

Donetsk are currently bottom, having picked up just one point from their first three games.

Sheriff Tiraspol are behind Madrid only on goal difference but will need a win against Inter Milan to keep in touching distance with Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

A loss would see them overtaken by Inter and therefore drop out of the top two after such a good start to their European campaign.

The competition’s top scorer Sebastien Haller will look to continue his superb form when Ajax play Borussia Dortmund in Group C.

The Ivorian striker already has six goals from three games, helping his side to the top of their group with a 100% record.

Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas currently occupy the bottom two spots and will face off this week looking to move closer to the top two.

Finally, Austrian champions RB Salzburg can confirm their qualification for the round of 16 with a win over Wolfsberg.

Mattias Jaissle’s side are currently top of Group G and will qualify with a win on Tuesday night providing the other result goes their way.

They will need Lille to lose against Sevilla, which will see them advance to the next round with two games to spare.

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