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European Football: Manchester United Start League Cup Defence; Barcelona Visit Mallorca In La Liga

Manchester United will look to avoid another early-season setback when they host Crystal Palace, while Barcelona will aim to extend their winning streak in La Liga to six matches

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Manchester United players during their EPL game against Burnley on September 23, 2023.
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European football is currently abuzz with key contests across major leagues, and several big-ticket clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich will be in action after midnight on Tuesday (early Wednesday morning). For United, the League Cup title defence is at stake, while for Barcelona, it is all about keeping the winning run going in La Liga. (More Football News)

Let us take a look at what's happening in European football on Tuesday:

League Cup 
Defending champions Manchester United look to avoid another early-season setback when they host Crystal Palace in the third round of the League Cup. It's the only all-Premier League clash among Tuesday's games, with Wolverhampton visiting Ipswich and Burnley travelling to League Two side Salford City. 

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United also face Palace at home in the league on Saturday, and manager Erik ten Hag will have to decide how heavily to rotate for a competition that gave him his first title at the club last season. United are already nine points behind Premier League leader Manchester City, and the League Cup may be Ten Hag's best chance for silverware again.

La Liga
Barcelona visit Mallorca looking to extend their winning streak in La Liga to six matches. The defending champions sit at the top of the standings with 16 points, tied with fellow Catalan club Girona, who will visit Villarreal on Wednesday. 

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Mallorca have only one victory and sit near the relegation zone. Sevilla, behind Mallorca in the table and also with just one win, host last-placed Almeria, the only team yet to win a league game this season.

Serie A
Juventus aim to bounce back from their first defeat of the season with a victory over visiting Lecce, who are the only side still undefeated after five games of the Italian league along with Inter Milan. Three glaring errors ensured Juventus slumped to a 4-2 defeat at struggling Sassuolo on Saturday, while Lecce moved a point ahead of the “Old Lady” in Serie A with a 1-0 win at home over Genoa the day before.

German Cup
After hammering Bochum 7-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend, Bayern Munich begin their German Cup campaign with a visit to third-division team Preussen Munster. Bayern are bidding to reach the final for the first time since 2020. 

“It's clear that we're the favorite, we've nothing to gain,” Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said on Monday. "The opponent has nothing to lose and it's the typical cup constellation. Still, we're obligated to win. We want to get to Berlin, we want to be in the final.” 

Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt is out after taking a blow to his knee, but Raphael Guerreiro could make his first Bayern appearance since switching from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason. Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz is also set to make his Bayern debut.

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(With AP inputs)

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