Two philosophies and two universes: Football royalty entertain the hard-working debutants from East Germany

Real Madrid begin their pursuit of a record-extending 15th European title by entertaining tournament debutants Union Berlin, having started their La Liga campaign with five straight victories.

After coming from behind to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 on Sunday, it's a quick turnaround for last year's UCL semi-finalists, who have lost just one of their last 13 games against German opposition in Europe's elite competition.

Unbeaten in UCL action here since April 2022 (W6, D1), you have to go back to March 2015 for the last time Carlo Ancelotti's side lost at the Bernabeu to German opponents, when Schalke overturned them 4-3. While those omens are good for Los Blancos, intriguingly, the last time they opened a UCL campaign at home, they lost 3-2 against Shakhtar Donetsk in 2020/21!

That might offer Union some hope as they start their UCL journey with one of the toughest tests European football can provide, having played in the UEFA Europa Conference League two seasons ago and the UEFA Europa League last term. As if making their debut against the 14-time European champions isn't difficult enough, the Germans do so having lost their last two Bundesliga games, with both fixtures producing exactly three goals.

Manager Urs Fischer described this as "the match of the year", but immediately following Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg said he wasn't looking forward to the test in Madrid. After scoring just twice across their five European away games last term, Die Eisernen Union may, therefore, struggle to emulate Shakhtar, Sheriff Tiraspol, CSKA Moscow and Schalke, all of whom upset big odds to triumph at the Bernabeu in the last ten years.

In Berlin, there might still be some sore eyes from constant rubbing: Can it be true that the Union is playing in the Champions League this season? And that their first game takes them to the famous Bernabeu, to face the serial winners, Real Madrid? Now, this dream is coming true for Union, even though they are not under the illusion that they can simply shoot Real out of their own stadium.

However, the Berliners do have one trump card up their sleeves: they can be underestimated! That's where their chance lies, which is why Toni Kroos has already strongly warned his Madrid teammates about Union in the lead-up to the match.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Tuesday

Milan - Newcastle 0-0

Young Boys - RB Leipzig 1-3 (1-1)

/Elia 33 - Simakan 3, Xaver 73, Sesko 92/

Feyenoord - Celtic 2-0 (1-0)

/Stengs 45, Jahanbakhsh 76/

Lazio - Atl.Madrid 1-1 (0-1)

/Provedel 90+5 -Barrios 29/

PSG - Dortmund 2-0 (0-0)

/Mbappe 49(p), Hakimi 58/

Man.City - Crvena Zvezda 3-1 (0-1)

/Alvarez 46, 60, Rodri 73 - Bukari 45/

Barcelona - Antwerp 5-0 (3-0)

/Felix 11, 66, Lewandowski 19, Battaile 26(og), Gavi 54/

Shakhtar - Porto 1-3 (1-3)

/Kelsy 13 - Galeno 8, 15, Taremi 29/

Wednesday

19.45: (1.63) Galatasaray (4.00) Copenhagen (6.25)

19.45: (1.40) Real Madrid (5.00) Union Berlin (9.00)

22.00: (1.58) Bayern (4.30) Man.Utd. (6.25)

22.00: (1.40) Arsenal (5.30) PSV (8.00)

22.00: (1.95) Sevilla (3.60) Lens (4.20)

22.00: (4.50) Braga (3.60) Napoli (1.90)

22.00: (1.45) Benfica (4.80) Salzburg (8.00)

22.00: (3.20) Sociedad (3.40) Inter (2.40)

***odds are subject to change