Group B - another tough group has several European titans involved. La Liga's historic Real Madrid, who have won the Champions League 9 times, Serie A Champions Juventus, who have also won the competition previously, as well as Turkish behemoth's Galatasaray and the most successful club in Denmark, Copenhagen are in the group. Last year, Real Madrid finished 2nd in the La Liga (Barcelona won by 15 points), 2nd in their CL group (Dortmund came 1st), lost the Copa Del Rey at the Bernabeu to Atletico Madrid and came up a goal short of reaching the Champions League final. That was the last straw for Perez as him, and Mourinho mutually agreed to terminate the Portuguese manager's contract in early June. Juventus won the Serie A last season over Napoli but had no other trophies to show for as Conte's men didn't take the Italian League Cup (Lazio did) and bowed out in the knockout stages of last year's Champions League to winners Bayern Munich. Juventus finished 2nd in their group in last year's competition as Chelsea famously missed out on the knockout stages just months after winning it. Galatasaray won the Turkish SuperLig last year under coach Fatih Terim, who was sacked last week and replaced by former Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini. Last year, Galatasaray had a decent run in the competition, making it to the quarter-finals, but their late comeback in Istanbul came up short as Real Madrid knocked them out.
Gameweek 2 fixtures are as follows:
Juventus v Galatasaray
Real Madrid v Copenhagen
The group table stands like this:
1st - Real Madrid 3 points (6-1 win over Galatasaray)
2nd - Juventus 1 point (1-1 draw with Copenhagen)
2nd - Copenhagen 1 point (1-1 draw with Juventus)
4th - Galatasaray 0 points (6-1 loss to Real Madrid)
Juventus v Galatasaray (Juventus Arena - 19:45 BST):
It was 2003 when Juventus was last in a Champions League final, losing out to Serie A rivals AC Milan at Old Trafford. However, many fans are starting to feel it's getting back on track and that Juve can claim European glory once again. They've won back-to-back Serie A titles under Antonio Conte and have looked like the "Old Lady" that everybody was used to growing up. Last year, Juventus drew 2012's CL winners Chelsea FC, Ukranian giants Shakthar Donetsk and the Danish side Nordsjaelland. They went undefeated in the group stages last year and easily walked past Celtic in the round of 16 before being outplayed completely by eventual champions Bayern Munich. This year, they have another tricky group and it's another test for Conte's men. His team kept the pressure on the perfect Roma (won 6 out of 6) as they beat local rivals Torino 1-0 in a derby match. A controversial win as Paul Pogba looked to be offside when he scored, but it's 3 points nonetheless. Juventus sits 2 points between leaders Roma for the top spot in the Serie A. Carlos Tevez was hurt in the match as former Juve man Ciro Immobile tackled him awkwardly giving Tevez a bloody and swollen ankle. Conte will hope Tevez will be fit enough to play against the Turkish team as the controversial figure has proved a great addition for the manager. Another great addition for the Old Lady was center back Angelo Ogbonna as he strengthened the defense. Juventus shockingly drew 1-1 against Copenhagen in Denmark last game week, Conte will hope his team doesn't suffer from the same destiny.
Galatasaray will play their first match under Roberto Mancini after sacking coach Fatih Terim. The former manager had a huge crowd show up to his house in support of the sacked man. The Turkish club had massive additions in Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba last year. Drogba was instrumental in Chelsea's successful 2012 Champions League campaign. Sneijder play a massive role in Inter's 2010 triumph. Both have been great additions for the Turkish giants and Drogba's fellow strike partner Burak Yilmaz was one of the most clinical strikers last year in the league and CL. Roberto Mancini will have all eyes on him after failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition when he was at City. The Italian was sacked after finishing a significant margin behind local rivals Manchester United and a shocking FA Cup final defeat to Wigan. The Turkish side currently sit 5th in the SuperLig with only 10 points from 6 matches. They are 5 points behind rivals Fenerbache for 1st place. During the weekend, Gala drew 1-1 at home against Caykur Rizespor, the newly promoted side. Last game week, Galatasaray were humiliated by Real as they were thrashed 6-1 in Istanbul.
Real Madrid v Copenhagen (Santiago Bernabeu - 19:45 BST):
Real Madrid didn't have the best of seasons last year as they went trophyless, losing the Super Cup to Barcelona, losing the Copa Del Rey in their own stadium against local rivals Atletico Madrid, knocked out in the semi finals of last year's Champions League and finished 15 points off the top of La Liga to Barcelona. Mourinho endured a tough season results wise and was starting to become out of favour with a large group of fans. It was a combination of the lack of trophies and results as well as his treatment of club icon Iker Casillas. Nonetheless, Mourinho and Perez mutually agreed to terminating his contract and Carlo Ancelotti was the man who replaced him. Carlo guiding his PSG team to a Ligue 1 title before joining the competition's most successful team. Ancelotti sold Mesut Oezil to Arsenal (42m), sold Kaka to Milan (on a costless) while dumping the cash for the Premier League's best player last season, Gareth Bale. Ancelotti also welcomed Spanish youngsters Asier Illarramendi and Isco from Real Sociedad and Malaga. However, Bale will not be available for the match due to a thigh injury. Real Madrid is coming into the match off of a fresh defeat to Atletico Madrid. Diego Costa scored the lone goal at the Bernabeu as the cross-town rivals celebrated a colossal victory. The "Los Blancos" currently sit in 3rd place in La Liga, behind Barcelona and Atl. Madrid. They will hope they can emulate their game week 1 rout of Galatasaray where Ronaldo netted a hattrick and new boy Isco found his name on the scoresheet. It is expected that Raphael Varane will be back ready for action as Iker Casillas is tipped to replace Diego Lopez in goal.
Copenhagen had success in the first game week as they surprised many and took a point from Juventus at home. The Danish side is the obvious underdog and look least likely to finish 1st/2nd in the group stages at first glance. However, they hope that these doubts people may have about them will be the motivation and impetus in their bid to historically make it to the knockout round(s). It will be very tough for them, not only because it's Real Madrid they're playing, but because no Danish side has ever beaten a Spanish side in the competition. Copenhagen hasn't won in it's last 6 Champions League matches with 3 draws and 3 defeats. Copenhagen has also failed to score in 5 of their last 7 Champions League away games. However, they will look to Daniel Braaten, Fanendo Adi and Nicolai Jacobsen to find the back of the net against Real. Copenhagen is coming into the match after a disappointing 3-2 defeat to rivals Brondby. Copenhagen has won 2 of their last 5 matches and will hope to emulate their 2010/11 group stage success they had against Barcelona (draw). It is also their 150th game in the competition and a win would make it a whole lot better.
