Tuesday Cannon Fodder: Champions League

The Champions League group stage starts today. I’m not sure if you remember the CL — it’s that competition that Arsenal were in for nearly 20 years straight under Arsene Wenger, the second-most impressive achievement of his time in charge of the club, second only to The Invincibles. It’s also the competition that most, myself included, expect the Gunners to qualify for this season.

I don’t think Mikel Arteta should necessarily lose his job if Arsenal don’t qualify for the CL this season. But I think that should be on the table. There are ways the Premier League / Arsenal season could play out where I would totally understand if they didn’t finish in the Top 4, and there are also ways it could go where I would want Arteta canned (I think).

There are 8 Champions League matches today. Dinamo Zagreb vs. Chelsea and Dortmund vs. Copenhagen both play at 12:45 PM ET. Benfica vs. Maccabi Haifa, Sevilla vs. Manchester City, RB Salzburg vs. AC Milan, Celtic vs. Real Madrid, RB Leipzig vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, and PSG vs. Juventus all play at 3 PM ET.

I think I’ll flip between the two earlier matches and probably focus a bit more on Dortmund-Copenhagen simply because I see plenty of Chelsea in the Premier League. Of the 3 PM slate, I’m most interested in Salzburg-Milan and PSG-Juve. All of the matches today are on Paramount+, CBS’ streaming service.

Which matches are you most interested in?