Struggling Real Madrid begins its title defence as Champions League proper gets underway tonight

The Group stage of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League starts tonight with defending champions Real Madrid starting off against FC Basel. Real Madrid have om under a lot of scrutiny due to their stuttering start to the La Liga campaign and nothing other than a convincing victory would calm the nerves of the Madridistas. Also in the same group, Liverpool are back in the Champions League after a five years absence and they would hope for a winning start against group stage debutants Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria. Liverpool also had an indifferent start to the new season but would like to switch to full gear against one of the tournament minnows.

In Group A, last season’s losing finalists Atletico Madrid are away against Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus but would be confident to get maximum points after their brilliant win over arch rivals Real Madrid last Saturday. In the other match of the group, Italian heavyweights Juventus are at home against Malmo.

In Group C, AS Monaco are up against Bayer Leverkusen as they enter Europe’s premier competition after an eight-year absence but nothing has gone right for the Ligue 1 team this season. Monaco has lost two of its biggest stars as James Rodriguez left for Real Madrid while Radamel Falcao joined Manchester United in a deadline-day loan switch. As if off-field issues were not bad enough, the club has collected only 4 points from 5 matches in the Ligue 1. Zenit St. Petersburg take on Benfica in the other match of the group C.

In tonight’s biggest fixture, Borussia Dortmund welcomes Arsenal to Signal Iduna Stadium in Group D with the two teams being drawn in the same group for the second season in succession, with both having qualified for the knockout stages last term. Last but not the least, Galatasaray takes on Anderlecht with both sides gunning for nothing other than a victory.