LaLiga sides look to continue their impressive Champions League start

LaLiga Santander teams managed a total of three wins and a draw in their opening Champions League fixtures, something they will be looking to improve on in their second games, which get underway this Tuesday. However, that will be no easy feat given that Real Madrid, Sevilla FC, Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona all face tough opposition.

Real Madrid kicked off their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon. This week they face an even tougher test away to Borussia Dortmund in Germany. Los Blancos are on a run of 22 group games without defeat, a run which coincidentally stretches back almost four years to 24 October 2012 when they lost to Dortmund. Marcelo and Casemiro are the LaLiga side's only two injuries.

 #RMUCL
This is our 22-man squad for tomorrow's Champions League match against @BVB.#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/ELp5D1t35J

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) September 26, 2016

 

Meanwhile, Sevilla welcome Olympique Lyon for the first ever competitive fixture between the two sides. Jorge Sampaoli's side played out a goalless draw away to Juventus in their opening fixture and will be looking for a good home result before facing Dinamo Zagreb in their next two games, one at home and one away. "We're going to be patient and precise against Lyon. We know that they have very good transition play and trying to trade blows with them could be dangerous," said Sampaoli in his pre-match press conference.

@nicopareja21: "Tomorrow three hugely important points are at stake" #vamosmisevilla #UCL pic.twitter.com/IksJ4c2sNv

— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) September 26, 2016

On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid face Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon in what could be the most exciting match of the week. Carlo Ancelotti returns to Madrid for a repeat of last season's semi-final in which Atletico knocked the Germans out of the competition. Both sides will be playing for top spot in Group D following their respective wins over PSV Eindhoven and FC Rostov. Diego Simeone will be without the injured Miguel Angel Moya, Augusto Fernandez, Jose Maria Gimenez and Alessio Cerci.

Barcelona will be looking to continue the form they showed in their 7-0 opening day thrashing of Celtic FC when they head to Germany to face Borussia Monchengladbach. The Catalans travel to Germany without Samuel Umtiti and Lionel Messi, who is the competition's top goalscorer, with Sergio Agüero, thanks to his hat-trick against the Scottish champions. It will be an important game for Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who returns to the club where he made a name for himself before joining Barcelona.