Pirlo leads Champions Matchday line

Andrea Pirlo's exclusive interview leads the second edition of Champions Matchday, the competition's official magazine, available before every UEFA Champions League matchday.

With matchday two of the UEFA Champions League on the horizon, the latest edition of Champions Matchday – the official competition magazine – hits the newsstand full of the stories, players and tactical trends set to shape another round of European football's premier club competition.

Fresh from inspiring Juventus's comeback from 2-0 down against Chelsea FC on matchday one, Andrea Pirlo exclusively reveals what it means to return to the UEFA Champions League, and discusses the art of playmaking as well as how the Bianconeri will replace departed captain Alessandro Del Piero.

Elsewhere in issue two, the new-look Champions Matchday – released a week before each round of UEFA Champions League games from this season – profiles Manchester's forward-thinking geniuses Yaya Touré and Antonio Valencia, discovers how Santi Carzorla is replacing Cesc Fàbregas as Arsenal FC's playmaker and finds out why AC Milan have gone back to year zero in pursuit of an eighth European crown.

The magazine also unzips FC Barcelona's 4-6-0 formation, charts the comings and goings in the summer transfer window and reviews the drama, shocks and 43 goals served up in a pulsating matchday one.

Issue No2 is available across Europe from 26 September and in a digital version. You can also follow the magazine on Twitter@ChampionsMag.

Schalke strive for home repeat as Montpellier visit

FC Schalke 04 won all three home group games when they were last in the UEFA Champions League and will be looking for a good start against Montpellier Hérault SC.

FC Schalke 04 and Montpellier Hérault SC are in contrasting moods as they meet for the first time in the second round of matches in UEFA Champions League Group B.

• The teams were on different ends of 2-1 scorelines on matchday one, Schalke triumphing at Olympiacos FC while Montpellier went down at home to Arsenal FC.

Match background
• Schalke have won all three of their home games against French opponents but lost both away. They beat AS Nancy-Lorraine 1-0 in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup first round – although they suffered a 3-1 defeat in the return in France – and Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-1 in the group stage of the 2008/09 competition.

• In their only UEFA Champions League meeting with a Ligue 1 club, Schalke defeated Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 in the group stage in Gelsenkirchen on 24 November 2010, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring twice after Jefferson Farfán had put the home side ahead. They had lost the sides' meeting in Lyon 1-0, Michel Bastos scoring the only goal of the game.

• Montpellier, French champions for the first time in 2011/12, have not met German opponents since 1999 and all six previous fixtures came in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the 1997 competition they lost their semi-final first leg against 1. FC Köln 2-1, winning 1-0 at home in the return to go through on away goals. In their final they went down 4-2 to fellow French side Lyon.

• Two years later, Montpellier met German sides in both the semi-finals and finals of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. They overcame MSV Duisburg in the last four, drawing 1-1 away and winning 3-0 at home. In the final, they swapped 1-1 draws with Hamburger SV, eventually winning 3-0 on penalties in the second leg in Hamburg. They went on to reach the UEFA Cup second round, overcoming FK Crvena zvezda 3-2 on aggregate in the first round before going down 5-1 to RC Deportivo La Coruña over two legs.

• Schalke are making their fifth UEFA Champions League appearance and when they were last involved, in the aforementioned 2010/11 campaign, they recovered from their 1-0 defeat at Lyon on matchday one to win seven of their next nine fixtures with the other two drawn.

• They finished first in their group before overcoming Valencia CF and holders FC Internazionale Milano in the knockout rounds. They then came unstuck against Manchester United FC in the semi-finals, losing 2-0 at home and 4-1 away.

Team ties• Benedikt Höwedes scored the winner for Germany in the 90th minute of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off against a France team which included Anthony Mounier. Höwedes' goal gave Germany a 1-0 win in the second leg in Metz on 15 October 2008 and a 2-1 aggregate victory, with both players having also featured in the 1-1 first-leg draw. Germany went on to lift the trophy at the finals in Sweden.

• On 7 September 2007, Tranquillo Barnetta scored Switzerland's opening goal in a 2-1 friendly victory over Chile in Vienna. Marco Estrada came on for the South American side in the 66th minute.

• Estrada got his revenge at the 2010 FIFA World Cup when Chile defeated Switzerland 1-0 in the group stage. Estrada was on the bench and Barnetta came on in the 42nd minute.

• Barnetta faced Daniel Congré in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage when his Bayer 04 Leverkusen team beat Toulouse FC 1-0 in Germany.

• In the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 16, Barnetta's Leverkusen took on RC Lens, who included Hilton in their team. The French side won their home leg 2-1 but lost 3-0 in Leverkusen.

• John Utaka and Chinedu Obasi are team-mates in the Nigerian national side but have yet to play together.

Arsenal and Olympiacos meet again

Arsenal FC and Olympiacos FC will hold few secrets from each other when they meet in London having been paired in the same group for the third time in four seasons.

Arsenal FC and Olympiacos FC will hold few surprises when the teams meet in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the third time in four seasons.

• While Arsenal opened Group B by coming from behind to win 2-1 at Montpellier Hérault SC, Olympiacos went down at home to FC Schalke 04 by the same scoreline.

Previous meetings
• This was also the fixture on matchday two last season, Arsenal again winning 2-1. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain marked his UEFA Champions League debut with an early goal and André Santos also scored his first for the Gunners to secure the points despite David Fuster's 27th-minute response.

• The lineups in north London on 28 September 2011 were: 
Arsenal: Szczęsny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Rosický, Arteta, André Santos, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Ramsey 68), Song, Arshavin (Gibbs 83), Frimpong, Chamakh (Van Persie 71).
Olympiacos: Costanzo, Mellberg, Ibagaza, Fejsa, Djebbour, Mirallas (Abdoun 75), Fuster (Pantelić 80), Holebas, Marcano, Orbaiz (Modesto 75), Torossidis.

• Arsène Wenger's team also came out on top in the 2009/10 group stage, Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin scoring in the last 12 minutes for a 2-0 victory.

• In both seasons the reverse fixture was won by Olympiacos, who were 3-1 victors in Piraeus last season with Rafik Djebbour, Fuster and François Modesto on target. Leonardo scored the only goal of the December 2009 encounter.

Match background
• Arsenal, who finished third in the 2011/12 Premier League, are taking part in the group stage for the 15th season in a row. For only the second time in seven campaigns they did not have to negotiate a qualifying round.

• In 2011/12 Arsenal departed in the round of 16 for the second season in a row. It was the 12th successive time that they had made it through the group and only the second campaign since 2006/07 that they had failed to reach the quarter-finals or better.

• Wenger's side won four of their five home games in last season's competition, the exception a 0-0 draw with Olympique de Marseille on matchday four. Apart from the victory over Olympiacos they also saw off Udinese Calcio in the play-off round 1-0 and Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the group stage before beating AC Milan 3-0 in the round of 16 second leg, bowing out having lost 4-0 in Italy.

• Olympiacos are in their 14th participation in the UEFA Champions League, reaching the round of 16 in 2007/08 and 2009/10. They lost all three away games last season, going down 1-0 in both Marseille and Dortmund in addition to the Arsenal reverse and finishing third in Group F.

Team ties
• Bacary Sagna and Rafik Djebbour were team-mates at AJ Auxerre from 2000 to 2003, Abou Diaby joining them in 2002.

• Ariel Ibagaza and Santi Cazorla played together at Villarreal CF from 2008 until 2010. David Fuster joined them in 2009/10 after a one-season loan at Elche CF.

• Sébastien Squillaci and François Modesto were team-mates at AS Monaco FC from 2004 to 2006.

• Roy Carroll recorded a win, a draw and a defeat in three games at Arsenal for Manchester United FC. He was also on the winning side in the 2003/04 FA Cup semi-final against the Gunners but in the following season's final Arsenal won 5-4 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.

• Wenger's Monaco lost to Olympiacos 2-1 on aggregate in the 1992/93 European Cup Winners' Cup second round.

• Marouane Chamakh scored FC Girondins de Bordeaux's second goal in a 2-1 win against Olympiacos in the second leg of a round of 16 tie at Stade Chaban-Delmas on 17 March 2010.

• Per Mertesacker was part of the Werder Bremen team which lost 3-1 at home to Olympiacos on 3 October 2007, their first ever away win in the UEFA Champions League after 32 attempts. Vassilis Torossidis played for the visitors whose third goal was scored by Darko Kovačević, now the club's technical director.

• Wojciech Szczęsny was sent off for co-hosts Poland in the 69th minute of UEFA EURO 2012's opening match against Greece. Giannis Maniatis, Torossidis and José Holebas all featured for Greece in a 1-1 draw.

Juventus plan more trouble for Shakhtar

Juventus have won four of their six fixtures against opponents from Ukraine and are boosted by their matchday one comeback as they await the visit of FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Juventus' record against opponents from Ukraine should put them in good heart for the visit of FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

• The Italian champions will be further buoyed by their comeback from 2-0 down to earn a draw at holders Chelsea FC on matchday one, while Shakhtar took the early initiative in Group E with a 2-0 home defeat of FC Nordsjælland.

Previous meetings• The teams have only met on one previous occasion – the 1976/77 UEFA Cup third round when a 3-0 first-leg home win for Juventus was enough to see them through. Shakhtar won 1-0 in Donetsk.

• The Turin outfit have met another Ukrainian club, FC Dynamo Kyiv, in the UEFA Champions League, winning the 1997/98 quarter-final tie 5-2 on aggregate despite drawing their home leg 1-1.

• The teams met again in the group stage five seasons later when Juve won 5-0 at home and 2-1 away.

• Shakhtar had to wait until their eighth UEFA Champions League game against Italian opponents for their first victory. They beat AS Roma 1-0 in Donetsk in the 2006/07 group stage to end a run of nine games without a win, including two in the European Cup Winners' Cup, that followed their 1976 success over Juventus. Of those nine games, eight were lost with the other drawn.

• Shakhtar were successful on their last visit to Italy, beating Roma 3-2 in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 – their first away win there at the eighth attempt. They followed up with a 3-0 win in the return leg.

• Răzvan Raţ scored an own goal in the first game with Douglas Costa and Luiz Adriano both scoring at the right end for the visitors. Willian struck twice in Donetsk with Eduardo notching the other.

Match background
• Juventus, winners of the Scudetto in 2011/12 and unbeaten in the 38-game season, were last in the UEFA Champions League in 2009/10 when they began with a 1-1 home draw against FC Girondins de Bordeaux. They went on to beat Maccabi Haifa FC 1-0 at home and lost 4-1 to FC Bayern München.

• Shakhtar, Ukrainian double winners in 2011/12, began last season's group stage with a 2-1 defeat at FC Porto and also lost 1-0 at FC Zenit St Petersburg. They concluded with a 2-0 victory at APOEL FC but still finished fourth in the section.

Team ties• Mircea Lucescu faced Juventus on nine occasions in the 1990s as coach of Serie A sides AC Pisa 1909, Brescia Calcio, AC Reggiana 1919 and FC Internazionale Milano. His only victory was Brescia's 2-0 home win on 14 March 1994 – four games were lost and the other four drawn. Lucescu's final match against Juve was Inter's 0-0 draw on 27 February 1999.

• Lucescu scored in Romania's 4-2 friendly defeat by Italy in Milan on 5 June 1976.

• Andrea Pirlo had two spells with Lucescu, making his professional debut under him for Brescia on 21 May 1995. Aged 16 years and two days, Pirlo was the club's youngest top-flight debutant. The two linked up again at Inter during 1998/99.

• Eduardo opened the scoring in Croatia's 2-0 friendly victory against Italy in Livorno in August 2006.

• Fernandinho played alongside Lúcio when making his international debut for Brazil in a 3-2 defeat by Germany in Stuttgart on 10 August 2011.

• Mirko Vučinić suffered three defeats in the UEFA Champions League against Shakhtar while with Roma, playing 12 minutes in Donetsk on 22 November 2006 as the Ukraine club won 1-0 in the group stage. In 2010/11, Vučinić played in both legs of the round of 16 tie as Shakhtar won 3-2 away and 3-0 at home.

• Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner were team-mates with Arsenal FC from 2007 to 2010.

• Alessandro Matri made his international debut for Italy against Ukraine in a Kyiv friendly on 29 March 2011, opening the scoring in a 2-0 away win. 

Madrid might have learnt their lesson

It has been more than a decade since Real Madrid CF – Europe's most decorated club – lifted the UEFA Champions League, but Graham Hunter thinks 2013 could be their year.

There has never been any secret made of the fact that José Mourinho was recruited by Real Madrid CF for one purpose above anything else: to win the UEFA Champions League.

It is easy for neutrals to forget that before the Portuguese was signed up – off the back of UEFA Champions League glory with FC Internazionale Milano in 2010 – the club with the most European Cups (nine) had been enduring a testing run of form on the continent.

Having won in 2002 – when Zinédine Zidane provided one of the iconic moments in the competition's history with his glorious volley – Madrid reached the last eight the following year but then hit a wall. For six straight seasons they went out in the first knockout round – including a 5-0 aggregate defeat by Liverpool FC in 2009. "When I arrived we weren't even a seeded club in the Champions League," Mourinho pointed out to UEFA.com earlier this season.

In theory, Mourinho was everything Madrid needed. He is one of only three men, alongisde Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld, to win this trophy with two different clubs. In his first season with Madrid he became the first to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with four different teams. He did likewise last term, but what must he do to make that final step?

©Getty Images

Zinédine Zidane with the trophy in 2002

Madrid have won the UEFA Champions League three times – in 1998, 2000 and 2002 – and finished outside the top two in the Spanish top flight on each occasion. History indicates that they find it hard to match triumph in Europe with domestic dominance – something in which they are hardly alone. However, the Merengues and Mourinho will undoubtedly be aiming for the title and next May's Wembley final – how they balance both ambitions will be fascinating to follow.

"The Champions League is a question of details ... but many, many details," Mourinho has told UEFA.com in the past. He will certainly be keen to improve these details, especially considering the nature of the previous two years' eliminations: set-piece goals, red cards, and late goals recurrent scourges.

The fact that Madrid's first group game on this occasion – a 3-2 win against Manchester City FC – was won in the dying embers of the match is the first sign that Mourinho and his team may have learned their lessons. They still must be considered one of, if not the team to beat.