5️⃣ things to look out for in Wednesday's Champions League action 💫 | OneFootball

The new Champions League group stage is officially halfway through with the expanded table taking shape.

Let's have a look what matchday five has in store.

⚔️ Match of the Day

The match of the day, and potentially, the match of the entire group stage comes from Anfield.

📸 Carl Recine - 2024 Getty Images

Liverpool host Real Madrid in what could turn out to be a decisive turning point for both sides this season.

Arne Slot's men come into this clash as the only team to have won all their games so far in the Champions League and sit eight points clear at the top of the Premier League to boot.

The Reds are, in short, a winning machine at the moment and face a Los Blancos outfit without their star player.

Carlo Ancelotti must travel to Merseyside without Vinícius Jnr who, this week, was confirmed to have suffered a leg injury and will miss up to four weeks.

It's a major blow for the Spanish giants but, in truth, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, with Kylian Mbappé able to move out to his favoured position on the left-hand side.

With this intriguing tactical battle ready to be played out in what's bound to be the best atmosphere in Europe, this one is simply a must-watch.

🔎 Team to Watch

There can't be many sides more confusing in this season's Champions League than Celtic.

The Scottish giants had won just once in their last 15 games in Europe's premier club competition before this season (with that victory coming against Arne Slot's Feyenoord last term) but blew that record away on matchday one with a stunning 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava.

How did Brendan Rodgers's men back up that glorious opener? By only just avoiding their biggest ever European defeat, getting hammered 7-1 by a pretty average Borussia Dortmund outfit.

But once again, the Hoops defied expectation on matchdays three and four by claiming a superb draw away at Atalanta and then thoroughly outplaying RB Leipzig last time out for a 3-1 win.

It means that Celtic now have genuine aspirations of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2007/08.

A win against Club Brugge would go a long way to achieving that goal, with Celtic currently sitting in 15th place, on seven points.

🔥 Player to Watch

📸 VALERY HACHE - AFP or licensors

Monaco have gone under-the-radar so far this season but midway through this group stage, the French club are currently sitting in third position with 10 points.

The Monégasques beat an in-form Barcelona on matchday one and have yet to look back, beating Red Star, Bologna and drawing with Dinamo Zagreb.

They now host Benfica in a fascinating fixture at the Stade Louis II with all eyes on 22-year-old attacker Maghnes Akliouche.

Akliouche is in something of a purple patch at the moment, scoring twice and putting in a man of the match performance in their thrilling 3-2 win over Brest at the weekend.

It capped off a stellar start to the season for the forward, who has been at the heart of everything Adi Hütter's men have done well in 2024/25.

👀 Potential upset

In the context of this season's Champions League, Aston Villa beating Juventus perhaps isn't that much a shock.

And yet if Unai Emery's side were to topple the Italian giants, it would go down as one of the greatest results in their modern history.

The Villans may have struggled domestically in recent months, losing to Tottenham and Liverpool, and drawing with Crystal Palace.

In Europe though, and especially at home, they have been second-to-none.

The win against Bayern Munich on matchday one is the obvious high point of the season so far, but Villa were also exceptional when Bologna came to town at the end of October.

Juve, despite having lost just one game all season long, could well be up against it when they travel to England this evening.

📊 Fascinating stat

It'll be a first for Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday when they take on Dinamo Zagreb.

Dortmund have never played a Croatian side in any European competition and in fact, it'll be the first time they play a team from a 'new' nation since taking on Cypriot outfit APOEL Nicosia in 2017.

📸 Carl Recine - 2024 Getty Images