Europe’s top flight competition returns as the UEFA Champions League roars back to life once again this week with some fiery encounters lined up right across the board. Selected UEFA Champions League fixtures: Tuesday, September 26th Dortmund vs Madrid Monaco vs Porto Man City vs Shakhtar Donetsk Spartak Moscow vs Liverpool Wednesday, September 27th CSKA Moscow vs Man United PSG vs Bayern Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea [caption id="attachment_6958" align="alignnone" width="594"] Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid in last season's Champions League[/caption] Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid Los Blancos got back to winning ways in La Liga and after drawing a blank and losing 1-0 at home to Real Betis- the first time they have failed to score in a league game since the 2015/16 season – by beating Deportivo Alaves 2-1 away from home courtesy of a first-half brace from new summer recruit Dani Ceballos. They already sit seven points behind Barcelona after their stuttering start and despite their straight-forward 3-0 victory in the opening round of group games over Apoel, they will face determined and rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund side, who since losing 3-1 to Tottenham at Wembley have won three on the bounce scoring 14 goals in the process, conceding just one, to power them to the top of the Bundesliga table, three points clear of Bayern at this early stage. In the group stages last year, the sides played out 2-2 draws in each of the fixtures between them. [caption id="attachment_6959" align="alignnone" width="594"] Porto defeated Monaco in the 2004 Champions League Final[/caption] Monaco vs Porto French Champions Monaco will face Portuguese giants FC Porto for the first time since the two sides clashed in the showpiece final of UEFA Champions League back in 2004 when Porto, managed by a young Jose Mourinho, outmuscled their fellow minnows and won 3-0 to lift the coveted crown for the second time in their history. Both sides are seeking their first victory in this season’s edition however, after Porto were humbled 3-1 at home by Besiktas from Turkey while Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw in Germany by RB Leipzig. Monaco sit second in Ligue 1, just a point behind PSG after six wins from their opening seven league games while their Portuguese opponents have a 100% league record and have scored a league-high 19 goals in their first seven games. [caption id="attachment_6960" align="alignnone" width="594"] Former Shakhtar Donetsk Midfielder Fernandinho who now plays at Manchester City[/caption] Manchester City vs Shakhtar Donetsk Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side come into a home game against Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in fearsome form. The Premier League leaders have scored 22 goals in their last five games in all competitions including a 4-0 demolition of Dutch champions Feyenoord a fortnight ago. Their opponents on Tuesday have won eight of their last ten league meetings and registered a positive point away from home to Napoli in their opening group game but will have a real task on their hands if they are to come away from Manchester with anything similar. This will be the first meeting between two of Europe’s more recent regulars to UEFA competitions. [caption id="attachment_6961" align="alignnone" width="594"] Michael Owen scored a hat-trick against Spartak Moscow back in 2001[/caption] Spartak Moscow vs Liverpool Jurgen Klopp masterminded his first win in five attempts since he saw his Liverpool side beat Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield in devastating fashion back in August. Following a 5-0 rout at the hands of Man City, the Reds dropped two point at home to Sevilla in their Champions League opener before being dumped out of the English League Cup at the hands of the 2015/16 champions Leicester City before beating the Foxes 3-2 at the weekend to end their winless run. Spartak have endured a slow start to the season and after suffering back-to-back Moscow derby defeats at the hands of CSKA and Lokomotiv respectively, they have remained unbeaten in the five games since, a run which has included four draws. The sides last faced in the Group Stage of the Champions League in 2002, Liverpool winning the corresponding fixture 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Michael Owen. [caption id="attachment_6962" align="alignnone" width="594"] Seydou Doumbia celebrates after scoring an incredible overhead kick against Manchester United in the Europa league[/caption] CSKA Moscow vs Manchester United Manchester United will be the second English side that will make the trip across Europe to Russia when they tackle CSKA Moscow on Wednesday for the second time in as many seasons after the teams faced each other in the group stage of last season’s UEFA Europa League. Anthony Martial’s 65th minute strike snatched a point for the Red Devils in the corresponding fixture last year after Seydou Doumbia’s stunning overhead kick had put the home side in front in the first half. Jose Mourinho’s men are a different outfit this year however, and are unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions since defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup final, scoring an astonishing 24 goals along the way including a 4-0 opening day victory over Basel on their return to the European top flight. CSKA, who currently sit fourth in the Russian Premier League seven points behind Zenit after 11 games, began their Champions League campaign with a fine 2-1 win away at Benfica. [caption id="attachment_6963" align="alignnone" width="594"] Neymar and Cavani argue over freekick duties[/caption] Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich PSG remain one of only two unbeaten teams in Ligue 1 so far this season. Along with Bordeaux, they have avoided defeat in seven games in the league, and sit top of the table, one point ahead of last season’s champions Monaco. They dropped their first points at the weekend in the 0-0 stalemate against Montpellier amid a rift between Edinson Cavani and world-record summer signing Neymar. They began their Champions League campaign with a 5-0 thumping of Celtic in Glasgow while Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern eased past Anderlecht 3-0 with Robert Lewandoski, Thiago and Josh Kimmich all finding the back of the net for the Bavarians. The sides have faced just a pair of times in European competition, in the 2000/01 group stage, each with a home win over the other. Laurent Leroy’s 90th minute strike sealed all three points for PSG at the Parc Des Princes in September 2000 and fans will be hoping for a repeat result as the winner will look to take control of Group B. [caption id="attachment_6964" align="alignnone" width="594"] Diego Costa scores against Chelsea during his time at Atletico Madrid[/caption] Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea All the talk surrounding this fixture is no doubt of the future of Diego Costa. The Spanish frontman left Atleti for Chelsea in 2014 and went on to win two league titles in three years with the Blues before falling out of favour with manager Antonio Conte. It emerged this week that he will return to Atletico in January in deal reported to be around 50 million euros. He was spotted in the crowd at Atleti’s new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid as Diego Simeone’s chargers comfortably beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday to keep pressure on Barcelona who are four points ahead of them at the top of La Liga. Chelsea were knocked out by La Roja 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals in 2014 after being held to a 0-0 draw in Spain in the first leg, Diego Costa scoring for Atletico at Stamford Bridge after Fernando Torres had put the Blues in front. Chelsea’s only win in five attempts against Atletico came at home in the group stage in 2009. Atletico have won two and drawn two against their English opponents, although neither of those victories came at home.