ROME, Sporting Alert – Defending champions Barcelona begin the defense of their UEFA Champions League title on Wednesday when they face Roma in one of 8 games on the schedule.
ESPN3, as it did on the opening day on Tuesday, will provide live streaming coverage from selected group stage games from the list of matches on Sept. 16.
Available at ESPN3.com are the Dynamo Kiev vs. FC Porto, Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. FC Bate Borisov, Gent vs. Olympique Lyonnais, Valencia vs. FC Zenit St. Petersburg and Dinamo Zagreb vs. Arsenal.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona will get their Champions League campaign up and running against Italian side AS Roma at Olimpico and this game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 USA.
Live online streaming coverage will be available at FoxSoccer2Go and Fox Sports GO.
The Spanish champions defeated Juventus to lift last year’s crown and they have started favorites again to repeat as champions.
Messi, who started on the bench last weekend against Atletico Madrid before coming on and scoring in the team’s 2-1 victory in La Liga, will return to the starting lineup on Wednesday as he makes his 100th Champions League appearance.
Meanwhile, former Manchester City and Chelsea players, Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah, are set to start for Roma, while Italian veteran and club captain Francesco Totti could start on the bench.
Bayern Munich, another team heavily tipped to win the Champions League this season, will start their hunt away from home in Group F when they take on Olympiakos at Karaiskakis Stadium.
Head coach Pep Guardiola is under serious pressure to bring home the European crown this season, with some pundits even going as far as claiming he could be sacked if he failed to deliver.
“We’re going to try to win the Champions League again,” the former Barcelona boss said at the pre-match press conference.
“All the sides are very strong so to win this game would be a good first step.
“The atmosphere’s going to be very hostile and Olympiacos have a great deal of quality.”
In the meantime, Premier League champions Chelsea and fellow EPL outfits Arsenal, will try to start their Champions League schedule with positive results, following defeats for Manchester City and Manchester United on Tuesady.
Streaming live on ESPN3, Arsenal travel to face Dinamo Zagreb, while Chelsea, struggling at the moment in the Premier League, will entertain Maccabi Tel Aviv.
UEFA Champions League
Live ESPN3 Streaming Coverage
Game Times (CT)
1:45pm Dinamo Zagreb vs Arsenal ESPN3
1:45pm Bayer Leverkusen vs BATE ESPN3
1:45pm Dynamo Kyiv vs Porto ESPN3
1:45pm Gent vs Olympique Lyonnais ESPN3
1:45pm Olympiakos vs Bayern Munich ESPN2
1:45pm Chelsea vs Maccabi Tel Aviv Fox Soccer 2Go USA
1:45pm Valencia vs Zenit St. Petersburg Fox Soccer 2Go USA, ESPN3
1:45pm Roma vs Barcelona Fox Soccer 2Go USA, Fox Sports 1 USA
