Champions League Matchday 1: Paris Saint-Germain vs Atalanta facts
Friday, September 12, 2025
Article summary
Previous meetings, club facts and key stats ahead of the UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 game.
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Paris Saint-Germain kick off their UEFA Champions League defence at home to an Atalanta side who are fast becoming competition regulars.
Last match
The teams' only previous match was a 2-1 Paris victory in the 2019/20 quarter-finals, a one-off fixture in Lisbon in which Marquinhos scored a 90th-minute equaliser, Mario Pašalić having given Atalanta a first-half lead.
Paris have lost only one of their last 12 matches against Italian teams (W5 D6), winning five of the last six (L1) – including a record 5-0 defeat of Inter in last season's final.
Atalanta’s 2020 defeat by Paris is their only loss in five matches against French teams (W2 D2), both their previous games in France ending 1-1.
This is Paris's 18th campaign in the Champions League proper. They have featured every season since 2012/13, reaching the knockout stages in all 13 of those most recent campaigns.
Fifteenth in last season's league phase (W4 D1 L3), Luis Enrique's side beat Brest (10-0 aggregate), Liverpool (1-1, 4-1 pens), Aston Villa (5-4) and Arsenal (3-1) to reach the showpiece in Munich, where their five-goal win against Inter was the biggest final victory in European Cup history.
The Parisiens were the 24th side to win the European Cup and only the second from France, after Marseille in 1993.
Paris kicked off this season by beating Tottenham 4-3 on penalties to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time.
Paris have lost on Matchday 1 in only two of their last 13 campaigns (W8 D3), winning their last three opening fixtures.
Atalanta are taking part in the Champions League proper for the fifth time – all since 2019 – in 2025/26.
Ninth in last season's league phase (W4 D3 L1), the Bergamo club lost 2-5 on aggregate to Club Brugge in the knockout phase play-offs (1-2 a, 1-3 h).
Ivan Jurić succeeded Gian Piero Gasperini – in charge since 2016 – as Atalanta coach in the summer.
Key stats
Paris have won ten of their last 12 Champions League matches (L2).
The French side's last 0-0 draw in the competition came against Real Madrid in 2015 – 99 games ago.
Atalanta have lost only one of their last 14 UEFA competition group stage/league phase matches (W8 D5) and are unbeaten in eight away from home (W5 D3).
The Italian side have scored in 21 of their last 23 European group stage/league phase games, including their last 15 away matches.