Champions League expert picks, predictions, best bets: Manchester City to handle Inter, PSG cruise vs. Girona

The UEFA Champions League officially made a much-anticipated return on Tuesday , and this season's competition is not like the ones that came before it.

The switch to the Swiss-system format adds more teams, more games and more days of competition to the schedule, all with the hopes of increasing the competitiveness as early as the league phase, which replaces the group stage. In terms of fixtures alone, Matchday 1 lives up to the billing with a handful of exciting games to kick off the competition. Liverpool's trip to AC Milan saw a Christian Pulisic goal, but Liverpool easily overcame it in a 3-1 win while Kylian Mbappe made his Champions League debut in a Real Madrid shirt ad scored in a 3-1 win over Stuttgart.

English and Italian champions Manchester City and Inter face off on Wednesday, and the Champions League action continues on Thursday with Arsenal traveling to Europa League champions Atalanta and Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen return to the competition with a trip to Feyenoord.

The CBS Sports team offers their expert picks and predictions. Take a look below.

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Here are our expert picks for this matchday:

Wednesday

Game of the day: Man City vs. Inter

Player to watch: Erling Haaland : He's quite good, this guy. A mere two goals in the win over Brentford suggests slipping standards from the perennial hat trick hero, but, well, it's hardly a return to be sniffed at. Inter have been a quite exceptional defensive force since at least the start of last season, but, frankly, they've not faced anyone as good as Haaland. -- James Benge

Man of the match: Rodri: When Manchester City won the 2023 UEFA Champions League final against Inter he was the man of the match, and also the player who scored the deciding goal against the Nerazzurri. He missed the first couple of games of the season due to a hamstring injury, but he's now ready to make his comeback as there are many expectations around his performance on Wednesday. -- Francesco Porzio

Prediction: City 2-1 Inter: City winning by one goal while scoring twice themselves seems to be the overriding favorite scenario in this one. The Premier League leaders up against the Italian champions should deliver a strong dose of opening-day quality for us. It was the 2023 final which many will recall being cagey so do not be surprised if this one is decided by a narrow margin of a goal or so. -- Jonathan Johnson

Best bet: Under 2.5 goals (+134): When two teams who could play each other for the Champions League final again meet to kick off a league stage play, it's safe to expect a cagy affair. Neither team truly needs to win the match to advance in the new setup but early points don't hurt either. I'd expect goals to be hard to come by so getting the under at plus odds feels good here even if Erling Haaland can destroy this at a moment's notice. -- Charles Booth

Thursday

Game of the day: AS Monaco vs. Barcelona

Player to watch: Raphinha: Perhaps no one in European football had a better weekend than Raphinha, scorer of three and provider of another as Real Valladolid were put to the sword at the Olympic Stadium. The Brazilian's place at Barcelona has not always looked secure since he arrived from Leeds United, but he seems to have met a good match in Hansi Flick, who has liberated him in more central positions. -- James Benge

Man of the match: Lamine Yamal: The Spanish gem was the man of the match on Sunday against Girona as he scored a brace in the fifth win in a row for the side coached by Hansi Flick, who has had an outstanding start of the season so far. The Blaugrana will make their international debut against Monaco and there are now many expectations around them and the teenage Spanish attacker, who is expected to be one of the stars of the Champions League season. -- Francesco Porzio

Prediction: Monaco 1-2 Barcelona : Few are giving Les Monegasques a chance in this one given Barca's start to the season in La Liga. Although the Catalan giants are strong favorites to win, the principality outfit's continental pedigree should not be forgotten and this is a good chance for Adi Hutter's side to show that in front of a rare strong turnout of supporters at Stade Louis II. Nothing says a big European game like the usually sparsely populated but always picturesque venue being full to the rafters and that could aid Monaco in running the Blaugrana close. --  Jonathan Johnson

Best bet: Barcelona to score in both halves (+154) : Under Flick, Barcelona have been scoring early and often in games. They only know one speed and it's all out attack so the goals will flow in this one. I was between the over 3.5 but took a slightly safer route for Barcelona to net one goal in each half. -- Charles Booth

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