Four Matchday 2 ties come with contrasting form
UEFA’s October 9 preview highlights Lens’ home run, Arsenal’s league-phase streak and challenges facing Sabah and Slavia Praha.
The UEFA Champions League returns for Matchday 2 on October 13–14, 2026, with Lens against Sporting CP and Sabah against Slavia Praha scheduled to kick off at 18:45 CET. UEFA’s October 9 preview also highlights Arsenal versus Lille and Atlético de Madrid versus Manchester United.
The statistics published by UEFA point to strong recent league-phase form for Arsenal and Sporting, while Sabah and Slavia arrive with contrasting records in European competition.
Lens and Sporting bring different records
Lens are unbeaten in their last six Champions League home matches, winning four and drawing two, and have scored in each of their nine home games in the competition. UEFA notes, however, that Lens have not kept a clean sheet in their last 14 Champions League matches overall.
Sporting CP have won their last three league-phase matches. Their three most recent wins against French opponents came in the league phase, but all were at home in Lisbon, according to UEFA.
Sabah face Slavia’s long wait for a win
Sabah won all four home matches in qualifying, scoring 12 goals and conceding two, and kept three clean sheets. None of the club’s 23 matches in UEFA competition have ended goalless, UEFA reported.
Slavia Praha are without a win in their last 20 Champions League proper matches, a run UEFA says stretches back to September 2007. They are also seeking a first away victory in the competition proper, having drawn four and lost six of their first ten such matches.
Arsenal’s streak stands out
Arsenal have won 13 consecutive league-phase matches, according to UEFA, and have lost only two of their last 31 group-stage or league-phase matches in UEFA competition. The London side have also kept five clean sheets in their last seven Champions League games.
The fixture has several links between the clubs: Arsenal defender Gabriel played 52 times for Lille before joining Arsenal, while Viktor Gyökeres scored against Lille on his Champions League debut for Sporting in September 2024.
Atlético’s record against English sides
Atlético de Madrid have not won a Champions League group-stage or league-phase match against an English team, recording four draws and seven defeats. UEFA also notes that Atlético scored in the first half in 11 of their last 12 home matches in those stages.
The Madrid club meet Manchester United in another Matchday 2 fixture. UEFA’s preview includes past connections between players at the clubs, including Julián Álvarez’s time at Manchester City from 2022 to 2024.
Newsroom
The figures and match details in this preview are drawn from UEFA’s Matchday 2 article published on October 9, 2026; they describe the records available ahead of the October 13–14 fixtures.
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This article was prepared by the automated Ranko newsroom using tournament data recorded on Ranko Universe at the time of generation. Subsequent updates or corrections may not yet appear here.
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UEFA Champions League
Official source · 09/10/2026 07:00
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