UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCH DAY 1 PREVIEW
The opening round of games of the 2022/23 Champions League season always whets the appetite for what’s ahead. The UEFA Champions League Match Day 1 will be shown by pay-TV broadcaster BT Sport in the UK.
The group stages of the 2022/23 Champions League begins this week and while none of the groups can be classified as a “Group of Death” there are some very interesting ones, and some potentially very fun games in store across the next few months.
Because of the 2022 World Cup causing a stoppage to domestic football in mid November until late December, the group stage of this season’s Champions League is a massive condensed affair with no real rest time for teams.
THIS UEFA Champions league MATCG DAY 1 preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.
The fun kicks off this week so we thought we’d give you a quick preview of our picks of the two must-watch games on the slate from UEFA Champions League Match Day 1.
UEFA Champions League Match Day 1 | Celtic vs Real Madrid
Tuesday 6 September | 2000 BST | BT Sport Live Streaming
This is both a battle of European royalty, and a David vs Goliath encounter. The first ever British winners of the European Cup, welcome the 14 time, and reigning, European Cup holders to Parkhead for what promises to be a real entertaining game. This is the first meeting of the sides since they were drawn against each other in the quarter-finals of the 1979-80 European Cup. Real would advance from that tie 3-2 on aggregate but were given a scare at Parkhead. They were dominated by Scotland’s finest in the first leg and were lucky to escape with just a 2-0 defeat. It took a monumental effort and an 86th minute Juanito goal to give them the 3-0 win at the Bernebeu and send them through to the semi-finals.
Real Madrid sit atop of Europe’s throne, but this will be a tougher game for them than people seem to think. Celtic, barring the Brendan Rodgers era, have historically caused massive problems for the top clubs in Europe when they visit the cauldron known as “Paradise. With 60,000 fans creating an atmosphere that few stadiums in world football can match, it’s an intimidating place to go. Even for the best of the best.
Celtic might just be the most entertaining team in Europe at the minute. Under Ange Postecoglou they play a breathtaking brand of football, at a tempo that few can match. They likely won’t have nearly as much of the ball as they are accustomed to, and obviously will be going up against a far higher calibre of opposition than they do in the Scottish Premiership, but you can be certain that they won’t take a backwards step on Tuesday night. From the first whistle to the last, Postecoglou’s men will attack Real Madrid at every opportunity and hope that their speed of play, and the outstanding positional rotation which is the basis for Ange’s system, they should cause them plenty of problems.
UEFA Champions League Match Day 1 | Napoli vs Liverpool
Wednesday 7 September | 2000 BST | BT Sport Live Streaming
Napoli and Liverpool have become very familiar with each other in recent years. This will be the fifth game in under four years between the sides it’s worth pointing out that Napoli have only lost once to the English side, while winning two themselves. Historically, they’ve played six times, all since 2010, and it’s two wins apiece, but in the Champions League Liverpool can only claim one victory over the Italians.
Napoli come into this game in great form. Top of Serie A and playing some fantastic football. With Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both in sparkling form, Liverpool are going to have their hands full with Napoli’s attack. Manager Luciano Spalletti has very quickly built a team in Naples that could well bring the city it’s first league title since the days of Maradona. Not only that, but he’s done it while legends walked out the door. This summer Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne, the foundation stones of Napoli’s last eight years, all departed the club. You would think that would have a negative effect, but instead the team has improved.
Kvaratskhelia has replaced Insigne on the left wing, and taken to Serie A like a duck to water, Giacomo Raspadori was recruited as the Mertens replacement and although he is yet to nail down a regular starting spot in the team he has shown himself to be one of the best young players in Italy during the past two seasons while at Sassuolo, and Kim Min-Jae arrived from Fenerbache to replace Koulibaly and has been outstanding so far.
Napoli are a formidable team, and Liverpool are out of form, out of sorts and suffering from a raft of injuries. It could be a very very long night for Jurgen Klopp’s team.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch UEFA Champions League Match Day 1 from anywhere. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
How to watch every UEFA Champions League match from anywhere…
UEFA Champions League matches will be streamed exclusively live in the UK by BT Sport on their website, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access BT Sport live tv streaming.
- Get a UK IP address for UEFA Champions League Match Day 1
- If you want to watch on your Windows PC, Mac, FireTV, iPhone, iPad or Android then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN Apps from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £14.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
How can I watch BT Sport UEFA Champions League 2022/23 matches live?
Whilst Amazon will shake things up next season, BT Sport remains the exclusive UK broadcaster for UEFA Champions League matches.
BT Sport announced that it will continue to be the home of UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League until 2027. Nothing will change this season but from 2024 BT Sport will show the majority, and not all, UEFA Champions League games, as well as all of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League. The other matches will be streamed live by Amazon Prime with match highlights available free from BBC Sport. The good news though is that BT Sport will continue to broadcast the finals for free. As for the Premier League, this season BT Sport will show a total of 52 live games.
There are a few options when it comes to signing up to BT Sport, firstly by combining it with BT Broadband. Put your postcode into the website to see what deals are available.
On the TV side, prices start at £16 per month for the duration of a 24-month contract. In exchange, you’ll get all the BT Sport channels and BoxNation, alongside Freeview, AMC and a recordable TV box.
You can also just use the BT Sport app for £16 per month- it works on mobile, tablet, smart TV and console – or buy the Monthly Pass for £25 per month. If your device supports it, you’ll still be able to watch in up to 4K HDR quality. Sky customers can get BT Sport added for £21 per month.
BT also offers a combined package with Sky Sports via Now, which is £41 per month for 24 months.
Furthermore; BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC Sport aren’t the only geographically-censored streaming services a VPN or Proxy will allow you to access. Other UK services like Sky Sports, Now TV, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and BritBox are available. Plus with the option to switch to our USA service whenever you like, you can access Hulu, HBO GO, Netflix and Pandora. Essentially you can access international content from virtually anywhere!
