PSG starts title defense with Champions League powers Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal also in action

Paris Saint-Germain takes the field Wednesday as the reigning champion of European football, joining Barcelona, Liverpool, and Arsenal in a high-profile six-game slate. The French club faces Slovenian side Slovan Bratislava in their inaugural Champions League match, coming off a disappointing start to the domestic season, where PSG did not record a victory in their first three Ligue 1 outings.

On the same day, Arsenal will start its Champions League campaign against Napoli, marking a return to the competition after finishing as the runner-up in the 2022-2023 season. Liverpool, under new Spanish coach Andoni Iraola, will host Atletico Madrid, a match that echoes the dramatic 3-2 extra-time defeat Liverpool suffered at the hands of Atletico the previous year.

Barcelona, a six-time European champion, will also kick off at home against Feyenoord, a team coached by former Barcelona player Giovanni van Bronckhorst, whose tenure at the club included a Champions League victory in 2006. The early matches kick off at 6:45 p.m. (1645 GMT) in Central Europe, while Viking from Norway will begin its Champions League journey against Stuttgart at the same time.

Sporting Lisbon will host Galatasaray at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). Despite a slow start to the season, Paris Saint-Germain typically finds their form in the latter stages, having finished 11th and 15th in the 36-team Champions League standings in recent seasons. This year, the team includes eight players who were part of the longest World Cup tournament in history, which concluded mid-July, leaving them with a shorter pre-season period.

Slovan Bratislava's coach, Yaya Touré, will make history as the first African to lead a team into the main phase of the competition. Atletico Madrid's coach, Diego Simeone, is a seasoned figure in the Champions League, approaching his 15th season with the club and starting his 14th consecutive campaign in the competition.