Champions League: Atletico's stability in the face of Manchester United's turmoil

The Old Continent's seniors are turning their focus to the second round of the Champions League's unified group stage. Some of them will seek to confirm their strong start, such as Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany, while others will try to restore balance, such as Inter in Italy.

Barcelona, Bayern, and Paris Saint-Germain, the French champions in the last two years, hit hard in the first round with big victories, albeit over relatively modest opponents, as the first defeated Feyenoord of the Netherlands 5-1, the second over Bodo Glimt of Norway 5-0, and the third over Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia 6-1, while Spanish Real Madrid, the record holder in the number of titles (15), achieved a difficult victory over Inter 2-1. Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid with the same score.

Barcelona is hosting Galatasaray of Turkey, and it has a perfect score in various competitions so far, in a distinguished start that may be the best in the history of major European clubs.

The Catalan club won its first nine matches this season for the first time since the 1935-36 season. Despite its failure to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League since the start of last season, it appears to be a difficult competitor for the Turkish giant, which has only succeeded in beating Barcelona once in 10 matches, and that was at home in 1994.

Bayern travels to face Viking in a relatively easy test, in the first match the Norwegian team plays at home in the competition.

Viking lost to Stuttgart 1-3 in the first round, in its first ever appearance in the tournament. Facing a new German competitor, he will rely largely on his strong level, which led him to victory in the last 11 official matches at home.

Viking had defeated Croatian Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 at this stadium, last August, and reached this stage, and also won all 10 of its home matches in the “Norwegian League” this season.

It is a coincidence that Bayern has become the first team to start its journey in the main stage of a European championship by facing two different Norwegian clubs, after it had defeated Bodo Glimt 5-0 last month.

Although Augsburg made the task difficult for them on Saturday, when they came back twice, snatching a 2-2 draw, the six-time European champion is still unbeaten in all competitions this season (6 wins and two draws).

English Arsenal, the runner-up of the last edition, clashes with Lille, second in the French League. The new format for international breaks this season meant that a full month had passed since Arsenal's victory over its Italian host Napoli 1-0 in the first round.

The Gunners have a distinguished record at this stage, as they have suffered only two defeats in their last 31 matches, in the group stage. The positive indicators do not stop there, the team of Spanish coach Mikel Arteta, which won 15 of the last 16 matches it played at home in this stage (one draw), and also prepared for this confrontation with a victory over Leeds 2-1, on Saturday, which was its seventh in a row at home.

On the other hand, Lille finds itself in a difficult situation after losing at home to Spanish Real Betis 2-3 in the first round, but it responded well by winning two of the following three official matches.

Veteran striker Olivier Giroud returns to the Emirates Stadium, hoping to become only the third player in the history of the competition to score for and against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Inter is seeking to quickly compensate, and avoid a fourth consecutive loss in the competition, when it receives Club Brugge of Belgium.

Since its loss to the Royal Club in the first round, the team has responded strongly by scoring 10 goals, during 3 “league” matches without defeat (two wins and a draw), the most notable of which was its victory over Parma 3-0, last Saturday.

His compatriot Naples also aspires to compensate for his loss to Arsenal, when he visits the injured Villarreal in turn, following their loss to its German host, Borussia Dortmund, 2-3.

Manchester United is preparing for a difficult trip to Spain, to face Atletico Madrid.

Atletico achieved its fourth consecutive victory in the "League", when it defeated Alaves 2-1, on Saturday, but it is also looking to collect its first points in Europe, after losing to Liverpool 1-2 at the opening.

On the other hand, Michael Carrick is experiencing the worst start of a “league” season for Manchester United in 40 years, which increases the pressure on the team’s coach, after his players neglected to advance and settled for a 1-1 draw against Tottenham, who completed the match with 10 players, on Saturday.

On Wednesday, all eyes will be on the fiery summit between Manchester City of England and its guest Paris Saint-Germain, while Real Madrid and Liverpool will be heavy guests for Roma of Italy and Lask Linz of Austria.