Liverpool and Bayern Munich kick off campaigns with tough road trips – Champions League at numb Opta

The world's most decorated club competition is back, and Wednesday's Champions League action promises fireworks.

Winners in 2019-20 Bayern Munich travel to the San Siro to take on Inter, while last year's runners-up Liverpool travel to Napoli for a match in which they are favourites.< /p>

Reigning Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt will be looking to maintain Germany's strong record against Portuguese sides when they host Sporting CP, and Harry Kane will be aiming to build on his superb record European as Tottenham host Marseille.

For a closer look, Stats Perform dipped into some interesting facts and nuggets about each matchup on Wednesday to give a clearer picture of how these clashes of champions may unfold.

Inter v Bayern Munich

After their last run in the Champions League ended in a quarter-final loss to Villarreal, Bayern Munich will be desperate for a much improved result as they aim for their seventh title, starting their campaign at the away against Inter.

The teams have split their seven previous European fixtures evenly, with three wins each and one draw, even though more than a decade has passed since their last Champions League game in 2011.

Despite not having much recent history against Bayern in this competition, Inter's games against German opponents have turned into goal celebrations, with 39 goals in total (19 for, 20 against) in their last 10 games.

Bayern have had much more success against Italian sides, going unbeaten in their last 10 (G8, D2) - with their last loss coming in that 2011 battle with Inter, and the Nerazzurri have also been the last team to keep a clean sheet against them in the 2010 final.

Romelu Lukaku will be a difficult man for the Italians to replace as he will be out after picking up a hamstring injury. In his 16 European games for Inter, he has 17 goals (13 goals and four assists).

Napoli v Liverpool

It will be the third time in the past five seasons that Napoli and Liverpool have landed in the same Champions League group after consecutive years in 2018-19 and 2019-20, with the Italian side winning all three of their matches at home.

Napoli have not featured in the last two editions of Europe's top competition, but they were a force in the group stages before their drought, with just one defeat in their previous 12 fixtures (5W, 6D).

Mohamed Salah's seven goals in last season's group stage were the second most scored in the group stage by a player from an English team, behind only Ruud van Nistelrooy's eight in the campaign 2004-05 Manchester United. Salah is also one assist away from equaling James Milner and Steven Gerrard for Liverpool's Champions League record number of assists (12).

Tottenham v Marseille

In the first-ever competitive meeting between these two sides, Tottenham will likely be confident in their ability to get the job done at home against a Marseille side long shy of any Champions League success.

Of their last 15 Champions League games, Marseille have won only one, against Olympiakos in 2020. English teams have also caused them particular problems, as they have recorded 12 defeats against Premier League teams in their history in the competition, twice as many. as much against any other nation (six defeats against Italian teams).

Harry Kane will be looking to add to his stellar European record, with 23 goals (20 goals, three assists) in 24 career appearances. Of all the players with at least 20 Champions League goals, only Erling Haaland (64), Mario Gomez (102) and Lionel Messi (103.7) have more minutes per goal than Kane's 104.4 /p>

Eintracht Frankfurt v Sporting CP

Reigning Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt make history with their first ever appearance in the Champions League, becoming the 14th German team to qualify, breaking the tie with Spain ( 13) for the most of all nations.

German sides have caused Sporting problems over the years, with 13 defeats and one draw in 14 tries in European competition, which has become a theme between the two nations.

Against all Portuguese teams, German teams are unbeaten in their last 15 Champions League matches (13G, 2D) dating back to 2006.

After scoring five times in last season's Europa League triumph to take his tally to 11, Eintracht's Daichi Kamada can enter the club's record books as one of their best three scorers in European competition with one more.