Matchday one of the Champions League is upon us and the first round of games on Tuesday night promises some great action, with Real Madrid hosting Manchester City the most intriguing of them all.
Arsenal visit French champions Montpellier, while the likes of AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Ajax also begin their campaigns.
All eyes will be on the group of death, which has four champions - Real Madrid, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax -- from four countries in Group D. Real Madrid know all about the Champions League and will take on a relative novice in City, which crashed out of their first campaign in the group stages last year.
Roberto Mancini's side are a little better equipped this season, and no doubt they would have learnt from their mistakes. They have form and momentum also on their side, having made a decent start to their English Premier League campaign, unlike their opponents.
Real have had a miserable season so far, and already find themselves eight points behind bitter rivals Barcelona in the La Liga standings. But the Champions League and the national league are two completely different things. Sometimes, poor form in the league, has transformed into great form in Europe for a lot of clubs in the past.
Jose Mourinho hates to lose, and if he wants to kickstart this year's season, there is no better place than the Bernabeu against one of the richest clubs in the world to make a statement of intent.
"The starting lineup won't be very different and nor will I pick on any player who's not in the best conditions," Mourinho told reporters ahead of the match. "It'll be the best team I consider to take on a team full of top-level players.
"I am the first one responsible (for Real's results). In my teams when we win, we all win and when we lose I am the first one responsible. Before we lost in Seville, I told my players what I then said in the press conference, but it was not criticism.
"Football is today and tomorrow not yesterday. Yesterday is history. I haven't been able to keep my players motivated and focused. I think that it is impossible to have a better squad-player relationship than the one I have."
However, Mancini s no stranger to the big occasions either. The Italian manager will not underestimate the task at hand, and after falling at the first hurdle last year, he will be determined as well as under pressure to improve; the Italian will be boosted by the return of Sergio aguero from injury.
City have the squad to win the Champions League, that is without any shadow of a doubt, but it takes a lot of experience to win the biggest prize in European football, as Chelsea will attest to, after going through several years of pain before finally grabbing the title.
What mood Cristiano Ronaldo is in, might just make or break Real's night. As much as one would want to believe that Madrid, like Barcelona, do not depend on their superstars, the reality is without Ronaldo or indeed Messi at their best - the two teams struggle to hit the meteoric standards they set for themselves.
You don't score over 50 goals in a single season and expect your teammates to do just fine, when your head is not in the game, which is clearly the case with Ronaldo. The Portuguese must realize that when on the pitch, nothing matters more than the 90 minutes of play. All the off-field problems must be left behind; but again, that is easier said than done.
Whatever the case, the biggest game of the night promises a lot, let's hope it delivers.
Fixtures for Tuesday: Group A: Dinamo Zagreb vs Porto; PSG vs Dynamo Kyiv. Group B: Montpellier vs Arsenal; Olympiakos vs Schalke. Group C: Malaga vs Zenit St Petersburg; AC Milan vs Anderlecht. Group D: Borussia Dortmund vs Ajax; Real Madrid vs Manchester City.
