Key events
It’s half-time in the two early games. Abdallah Sima has put Brest ahead at Salzburg – and top of the as-it-stands Champions League table and yes we are milking this – while Stuttgart are level at home to Sparta Prague. Enzo Millot scored for Stuttgart; Kaan Kairinen equalised for Sparta.
Preamble
Good evening one and all. Life moves pretty fast, and by tomorrow night we’ll be a quarter of the way through the new league stage of the Champions League. A quarter! Two-eighths! Before you know it it’ll be 31 May 2025 and Carlo Ancelotti will be eating another celebratory cigar.
Carlo’s men aren’t in action tonight, but there are nine games involving eight former winners of the competition. The most eyecatching contest is between two teams who have never been champions of Europe: Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, who meet at the Emirates Stadium. That match has its own liveblog right here.
There are two meetings of former champions: Borussia Dortmund (1997) v Celtic (1967) and Internazionale (1964, 1965, 2010) at home to Red Star Belgrade (1991).
Manchester City and Barcelona have winnable matches, while AC Milan have a tricky trip to Leverkusen. They were well beaten by Liverpool a fortnight ago and their manager Paulo Fonseca will be conscious that no team has ever qualified from the league stage after losing their first two games.
These are the fixtures, all 8pm BST kick-offs unless otherwise stated.
-
Salzburg 0-1 Brest (5.45pm)
-
Stuttgart 1-1 Sparta Prague (5.45pm)
-
Arsenal v Paris Saint-Germain
-
Barcelona v Young Boys
-
Dortmund v Celtic
-
Inter v Red Star
-
Leverkusen v Milan
-
PSV Eindhoven v Sporting CP
-
Slovan Bratislava v Manchester City