UEFA CL, GS MD4, 31 October - 1 November 2017

31 October 2017

Group A

Manchester United vs. SL Benfica

Benfica is having a campaign to forget so far, with home losses against CSKA and Manchester United as well as an absolute hammering in a lacklustre display away at FC Basel. They will be looking to improve at Old Trafford and they will travel there on a EuroAtlantic Boeing 767-300/ER (as reported by AlphaFive from Manchester):

MMZ621 LIS 0935-1215 MAN B763 (30/10/17)
EI2216 DUB 1450-1555 MAN A320 EI-DEP
EI2217 MAN 2330-0015(+1) DUB A320 EI-DEP 
MMZ**** MAN 2345-xxxx(+1) LIS B763

FC Basel vs. CSKA Moscow

The Russian runners-up have some ground to make up after a disappointing home loss. Basel in the meantime could already secure their progress into the knock-out stages of either the Champions or the Europa League, depending on how the other match in the group goes. CSKA Moscow normally travel with their special painted Aeroflot Airbus A320 VP-BWD, but for now things look differently:

SU7098 SVO 0940-1110 BSL A320 VQ-BIU (30/10/17)

SU7099 BSL 1255-xxxx SVO A320 VQ-BIU (30/10/17, ferry flt)

SU7098 SVO xxxx-0840 BSL A320 VP-BME (01/11/17)

SU7099 BSL 0940-xxxx SVO A320 VP-BME (01/11/17)

Group B

Celtic Glasgow vs. FC Bayern München

Glasgow appears to be a destination the Bayern fans have a lot of appetite for. While on the pitch things should work fairly smoothly for the German champions, their plan to travel with no less than seven aircraft is rather surprising for an outfit that tends to move through competitions with high self-assurance. Team and staff travel with Lufthansa as usual while for the numerous supporters there are flights planned with Condor, Enter Air and Germania:

LH2572 MUC 0800-0925 GLA A320 (30/10/17)
LH2570 MUC 1200-1325 GLA A321 (30/10/17)
LH2520 MUC 1515-1640 GLA A20N (30/10/17)
LH2521 GLA 1820-2135 MUC A320 (30/10/17, ferry flt)
DE9132 MUC 0900-1030 GLA B753
ENT516 MUC 0900-1030 GLA B738
ENT585 MUC 0900-1030 GLA B738
ST2424 MUC 0930-1100 GLA
DE9133 GLA 0145-0505 MUC B753 (01/11/17)
LH2571 GLA 1400-1715 MUC A321 (01/11/17)

Group C

Atlético Madrid vs. FK Qarabag Agdam

The goalless draw away in Baku would have left Atléti frustrated though for the Azeri debutants this was a performance to build on, particularly having played part of the game with ten men only. Qarabag will be traveling with no less than one of Azerbaijan Airlines' two Airbus A340-500s, just as Atléti did when they visited the Azeri capital:

AHY5003 GYD 1500-1900 MAD A345 (29/10/17)
AHY5004 MAD 0040-0910 GYD A345 4K-AZ85 (01/11/17)

AS Roma vs. Chelsea

ZT780Y STN 1145-1200 LGW B752 G-POWH (30/10/17, ferry flt)
ZT7801 LGW 1430-1745 FCO B752 G-POWH (30/10/17)
ZT780W FCO 1850-xxxx MAN B752 G-POWH (30/10/17, ferry flt)

Group D

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. FC Barcelona

In torrid times for Catalunya, FC Barcelona is looking to travel to Greece using foreign means. Portuguese ACMI specialist HiFly is their choice for the game, most likely providing them with an A340-300, though their A340-500 CS-TFX looks a good chance too, having returned to its home base in Beja after flying for Avianca for a few days:

HFY912 BCN 0930-xxxx ATH A343 (30/10/17)
ENT547 BCN 0800-1200 ATH B738 SP-ENU

HFY921 ATH 0115-0315 BCN A343 (01/11/17)

Sporting Lisbon vs. Juventus Turin

AP5561 TRN 1500-1700 LIS B738 (30/10/17)
AP5562 LIS 1050-xxxx TRN B738 (01/11/17)

1 November 2017

Group E

Liverpool FC vs. NK Maribor

The Slovenian participants travel to Merseyside looking to stage an unlikely comeback after a 7-0 home defeat against Liverpool. Traveling seems to have been fairly complicated though. The Adria Airways A319 S5-AAR, initially due to carry the team to Liverpool returned to Ljubljana to subsequently do a regular flight to Frankfurt. Airbus A320 of BH Air was summoned to take over and took the team to Liverpool with a delay of more than seven hours on the night before the game:

JP943 MBX 1000-1115 LPL A319 A320 LZ-BHJ (31/10/17)
ENT568P AJA 2230-2345 MBX B738 SP-ENR (31/10/17, ferry flt)
ENT595 MBX 0800-0915 LPL B738 SP-ENR
JP945 LPL 2355-0305(+1) MBX (01/11/17)
ENT596 LPL 0015-0320 MBX B738 (02/11/17)

Sevilla CF vs. Spartak Moscow

Having traveled with Aeroflot before, Rossiya appears to be the airline of choice for the Russian champions Spartak this time. The game at Pizjuan should be no walk in the park for them, for the Sevilla side will be fired up after losing so badly in Moscow:

SDM5783 SVO 1435-1755 SVQ A319 (31/10/17)

SDM5782 SVQ 1200-1915 SVO A319 (02/11/17)

Group F

SSC Napoli vs. Manchester City

AWC780W FCO 1850-xxxx MAN B752 G-POWH (30/10/17, ferry flt)
AWC**** MAN xxxx-xxxx NAP B752 G-POWH (31/10/17)
BY8168 MAN 0700-xxxx NAP
LS6435 MAN 0730-xxxx NAP

Group G

FC Porto vs. RB Leipzig

The debutants from Germany scored their first win of the campaign last time out when they faced Porto at home. The Estadio do Dragao will provide them with another challenge however, facing a Porto side that will be determined not to let the own home supporters down. The support for Leipzig should be fairly vocal too though, with some supporters traveling to Portugal with a TUI B737-800:

LG7731 LEJ xxxx-1315 OPO B738 (31/10/17)

LG7732P OPO 1330-xxxx FAO B738 (31/10/17, ferry flt)

TUI8902 LEJ xxxx-1110 OPO B738 (01/11/17)

TUI8903 OPO 0150-xxxx LEJ B738 (02/11/17)

LG7731P LUX xxxx-1115 OPO B738 (02/11/17, ferry flt)

LG7732 OPO 1315-xxxx LEJ B738 (02/11/17)

Group H

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Real Madrid

IB2800 MAD 1100-1230 LTN A321 (31/10/17)
UX951 MAD 0730-0850 LGW B738

IB2801 LTN xxxx-0255 MAD A321 (02/10/17)

Borussia Dortmund vs. APOEL Nicosia

CO7744 LCA xxxx-1305 DTM A319 5B-DCU (31/10/17)
AEE4910 LCA xxxx-1310 DTM A320 SX-DGR (31/10/17)