Key events
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic: Rodgers’ side are currently looking relatively comfortable in Bergamo. They are defending well and creating a chance or two.
Peter Oh emails acting like some of the seven-year-olds I was at school with: “After Borussia Dortmund’s entertaining second-half implosion at Real Madrid yesterday, the question to you, Will Unwin, is, who will unwin today?”
I will say … Lille.
I should say we have five Championship fixtures this evening.
Blackburn v West Brom
Hull v Burnley
Luton v Sunderland
Millwall v Plymouth
Middlesbrough v Sheffield United
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic: De Roon has a shot from just outside the area but Schmeichel is equal to it.
If you want RB Leipzig v Liverpool then Rob Smyth has you covered.
Starting lineups: Barcelona v Bayern Munich
Starting lineups: Man City v Sparta Prague
City make the bold decision to name seven subs, including two goalkeepers.
Your City side to face Sparta Prague! 🩵
XI | Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Gundogan, Bernardo (C), Nunes, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
SUBS | Ederson, Carson, Dias, Kovacic, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, McAtee#ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/OfR4pH9aiC
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 23, 2024
1️⃣1️⃣ SESTAVA | Na Etihad Stadium vyběhne od první minuty následující jedenáctka 👥
V kádru ze zdravotních důvodů chybí Indrit Tuci, Elias Cobbaut a Jaroslav Zelený 🤕 #acsparta pic.twitter.com/dbg6r6oXtW
— AC Sparta Praha (@ACSparta_CZ) October 23, 2024
Whoever designed this scarf was very lazy. I think they could have been a touch more original than ‘Come On You Blues’ and Haaland.
Half time scores in the early games:
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
I am so committed to this blog that I went to hang out at the hotel where Sparta Prague are staying in Manchester earlier today. I found out that 21-year-old Martin Vitík is the man to watch. The centre-back has a big future and we can expect him to move to one of the big five leagues in Europe in the coming years. Tonight he will most likely be up against Erling Haaland to add to his education.
Get your Manchester City pre-match reading material.
Preamble
There are a few fun fixtures around this evening. Sparta Prague are in Manchester for a test of their mental fortitude as part of a very very low block. Can they keep City out for 90 minutes? Almost certainly not but they’ve had a good start to the competition, winning against RB Salzburg and drawing in Stuttgart.
Barcelona host Bayern Munich as Hansi Flick faces his former club. It is certainly the headline game of the night. Barcelona have scored 13 goals in their past three matches, while Bayern hit nine in their opening match of the Champions League against Dinamo Zagreb, so it could be a fun night in Catalonia.
Here are tonight’s fixtures:
5.45pm BST
Atalanta v Celtic
Brest v Bayer Leverkusen
8pm BST
Atletico Madrid v Lille
Barcelona v Bayern Munich
Benfica v Feyenoord
Manchester City v Sparta Prague
RB Leipzig v Liverpool
RB Salzburg v Dinamo Zagreb
Young Boys v Internazionale
