Champions League starts, LASK celebrates debut, PSG chases hat‑trick

On Tuesday at 18:45 live on Sky, the ball finally rolls back into the top tier when the Austrian champions LASK make their debut against AEK Athens – a kick‑off that reignites the questions about the new Champions League format and a possible PSG hat‑trick.

New Format of the League Phase

How the new league phase works is explained by the expert. From now on there is only one table for all thirty‑six teams. Each team plays four home and four away matches against eight different opponents. The top eight qualify directly for the round of 16, places nine to sixteen contest a play‑off for another eight spots, while from place twenty‑five the European cup season is over.

LASK's Schedule

After the opener in Athens, the home match against FC Liverpool awaits on 14 October – a real highlight. A week later LASK must travel to Portugal's runners‑up Sporting Lisbon, followed by Slovan Bratislava on 3 November and Bodø/Glimt on 24 November. On 9 December LASK hosts Fenerbahçe, on 19 January the team meets Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and to conclude the league phase FC Porto travels to Upper Austria on 27 January.

Other clubs also celebrate their first participation. The Italian club Como 1907, once fallen into obscurity in 1989 and back in professional football in 2019, has, thanks to Indonesian investors Michael Bambang and Robert Budi Hartono as well as the stakes of Cesc Fàbregas and Thierry Henry, made the leap into Serie A and now into the top tier. For the debut, goalkeeper Robert Sánchez and defender Trevoh Chalobah were signed from Chelsea, Yan Couto arrived from Borussia Dortmund. The club Sabah FK from Azerbaijan, founded in 2017, reached the league phase thanks to entrepreneur Yaqub Huseynov and will face the Norwegian champions Viking Stavanger, who return to the top tier after thirty‑four years. In the report by Vincenzo Orlando/IPA Sport the events are described as the hymn of all hymns, with the exclamation Beeeesten...Les.

The Object of Desire

The object of desire remains the trophy for the Champions League winner. As every year, the hymn of all hymns – Beeeesten...Les – sounds, and the fans sing the hymns, while the season’s time leads into the week of the final on 5 June at the Atlético Madrid stadium. To conclude this story the question remains whether a PSG hat‑trick will decide the race.

Yes, the new Champions League structure offers more excitement and gives smaller clubs like LASK the chance to make history. For the Austrian fans the opening‑match experience means a new chapter that also promises further surprises in the future. The other debutants also show that the top tier today is more than ever a playing field for unexpected stories.