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The Champions League returns on Tuesday with Arsenal and Tottenham in action - this week's fixtures Arsenal get their European campaign up and running at Athletic Bilbao (17: 45 BST) before Spurs open up against Villarreal (20: 00 BST) Chelsea (at Bayern) and Liverpool (v Atletico Madrid) both in action on Wednesday before Man City (v Napoli) and Newcastle (v Barcelona) begin on Thursday How does the format work? Are Liverpool favourites? Our experts' opinions Phil Mc Nulty taking your questions: Can Arsenal win the Champions League? Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Written by Craig Nelson, Sam Drury & Melissa Edwards. Liverpool v Atletico Madrid (Wed, 20: 00 BST) Champions League Liverpool welcome Atletico Madrid to Anfield in their opening fixture on Wednesday and it has been announced that the La Liga giants will be without star striker Julian Alvarez. The former Manchester City man came off with knee discomfort in Atletico's 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday and is not part of Diego Simeone's squad for the trip to Merseyside. Midfielder Johnny Cardoso is also missing from the travelling party, as are Jose Maria Gimenez, Thiago Almada and Alex Baena. Liverpool Finally, here's Liverpool eight games: Chelsea Enzo Maresca's Chelsea, meanwhile, have some heavy-hitters in their eight fixtures: Manchester City Here's who Manchester City will face across the league phase: Craig Nelson BBC Sport reporter We have published Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle's fixtures, let's quickly run through the other three Premier League teams in the Champions League - Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. .. Arsenal Mikel Arteta is having to test the strength of his squad, even at this early stage of the season. The Arsenal manager confirmed in Monday's pre-match news conference that captain Martin Odegaard hasn't travelled to Bilbao as he remains sidelined with a shoulder injury. William Saliba could make his return but Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Ben White are all out. Phil Mc Nulty Q&A Phil Mc Nulty BBC Sport chief football writer Yemi: Hello Phil, if you had to label one of the English teams as a dark horse - that could surprise everyone beyond that of the favourites Liverpool - which team would it be and for what reason? Morning, Yemi. I think I would say Arsenal because they reached the semi-final last season and have added some real quality in the transfer window. The experience of the last Champions League campaign will serve them well and they now have the strength of squad to finally break through and win one of the major trophies. Do I think Arsenal will win the Champions League? Not so sure about that, but I think they can make a real impact. Arsenal Here is a full list of the Gunners' league phase fixtures: You know Jason, Opta has actually used it's power rankings to judge the average difficulty of each opponent in the opening phase of the Champions League and it seems that Arsenal have the easiest run. Check out the Opta table in the social media post below. We will remind you of Arsenal's fixtures next, along with Manchester City's and Liverpool's, and you guys can be the judge. .. Allow X content? This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Just looking through the fixtures for the PL teams, I would say that Spurs have the easier draw of matches. Much harder than, let's say Liverpool's or Man City's. .. How does that work? ! Jason Tottenham Hotspur Here's a reminder of Tottenham's games in the league phase: Phil Mc Nulty Q&A Phil Mc Nulty BBC Sport chief football writer Harry: Question for Phil - I'm not a Tottenham fan but their Champions League run is something which I am excited to see given how they gained entry. How do you personally rate their chances of getting through the league stages? Do you think the new leadership and signings are ready? Morning, Harry. If I was a Spurs fan, I would be very excited by new manager Thomas Frank and the early signs have been very promising, apart from the home loss to Bournemouth. They have some very tough games, especially a trip to holders PSG, but they played well against them in the Super Cup final so there should be no fear. I’ll say definitely Champions League play-off at the very least. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Re - Tim @10: 46? Why not? Romero and Van der Ven staying fit is pretty much essential but we have sneakily acquired decent strength in depth and with a coach who is able to change his mind we could really do all right. More optimistic Tim. Tim We're assuming there are two Tims here - not just one Tim using this page to give himself a talking to. Newcastle United What do you think folks? How far can Newcastle go? Here's who the Magpies will face across the league phase: Phil Mc Nulty Q&A Phil Mc Nulty BBC Sport chief football writer Jack: What stage do you think Newcastle will reach in the Champions League this season? Hello, Jack. Newcastle United have some very tough games, starting with Barcelona on Thursday, and of course Marseille and holders Paris St-Germain away later in the league phase. In between, they do have winnable games, so my prediction would be for Newcastle to reach the play-off stage then it’s all to play for. What is certain is that there will be some great nights on Tyneside. I’m at St James’ Park on Thursday for the Barcelona game and can’t wait. Craig Nelson BBC Sport reporter OK, Phil Mc Nulty is with us so let's kick off his Q&A with one from Newcastle fan Jack. You can send Phil your football-related question - it doesn't have to be about the Champions League - by clicking the Get Involved button. Just remember to address your question to Phil. .. Tottenham v Villarreal (20: 00 BST) Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham captain Cristian Romero on performances so far under Thomas Frank: "We always focus on our jobs and our work. We have a great manager. We have a great defensive coach. We always want to improve. "If you take Bournemouth out, we've done well. We do our best no matter who we are playing against. It is always about increasing our performance and looking to improve. " Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Spurs, apart from the last couple of years, were consistently doing well in the Champions League for the last decade. I'm sure Frank will do well this year, but we must remember that we brought him in to get back to being a consistent powerhouse, not last year's one-time half-glory. Max Tottenham v Villarreal (20: 00 BST) Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham boss Thomas Frank on playing in the Champions League: "It's a big thing. I'm hugely looking forward to it. I know it'll be special when we have that Champions League anthem playing. "Now it's preparation, there's a few more cameras, but it's business as usual. When we all go out onto the pitch tomorrow then it'll be special. "I believe I have a fantastic squad and we would like to go as far as possible. I think the most important thing is that it's one game at a time. "Villarreal are a very good team, I've been very impressed when I've studied them, but we'll do everything we can to get a good start. It's going to be a good challenge. " Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Personally, I can't (as a Spurs fan) see Spurs getting past the quarters. .. however Thomas Frank is a great manager so you never know. .. Tim You never do Tim, you never do. .. Last Updated 31st August 2025 at 02: 20 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.