Key events
Full-time in the early Champions League kick-offs.
Kairat 0-5 Real Madrid: A Kylian Mbappé hat-trick plus goals from Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz give the visitors an emphatic yet expected win.
Atalanta 2-1 Club Brugge: After a much-better showing in the second-half, Lazar Samardzic’s penalty and Mario Pasalic’s header helped the hosts come from behind to secure victory.
Some of your thoughts have landed in the postbag as we approach the late kick-offs.
Jeremy knows what to expect from today:
Yeah, OK, looking forward to Liverpool scoring/conceding a stoppage time winner, to Spurs grinding out a draw in the Arctic Circle with their soft-southerner gloves and tights on, but obviously all eyes are on Stamford Bridge, just as The Special/Mellow/Sacked one would like it. He had us all fooled for a while, taking it all on his heavily stubbled chin to allow the players space to express themselves. But actually it was all up there to see long before. Where were the cameras for his Porto period Old Trafford knee-slide? Goalscorer? Assister? JoseKneeSlide?
What on earth have Benfica done putting him on the payroll? Graham Potter is available, is it too late? It all feels a bit like this.
And Krishna with an eye-catching prediction:
A club that has won all the European cups (CL, EL and the new CL) meets its former boss who has also won all the three cups as a manager. I expect decorum to last till half-time after which the special one will poke Maresca in the eye.
Liverpool are at Galatasaray and Arne Slot has left a couple big names on the bench. Follow along with Scott Murray in our minute-by-minute report.
Real Madrid are up 3-0 in Kazakhstan, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a penalty before netting two in the second-half. The hosts were doing well to fend off the Spanish giants but inexperience cost Kairat with their 18-year-old goalkeeper Sherkhan Kalmurza made a silly foul in the box on Franco Mastantuono. The Kazakhstani keeper saved a spot-kick against Sporting in their first Champions League match but could not do the same against Mbappé.
His second came after Thibaut Courtois caught the hosts’ defence sleeping. Mbappé latched onto the keepers long ball before lifting it over Kalmurza. The Frenchman’s hat-trick was rounded out with a laser shot into the bottom corner.
Club Brugge led at Atalanta after a curling finish from Christos Tzolis. That is now two goals and four assists in six Champions League matches this season (includes qualifying). But the hosts bounced back after VAR confirmed a penalty, Lazar Samardzic pulling one back.
Bayern head to the coasts of Cyprus to take on Pafos and Harry Kane will be keen to add to his Champions League goal tally. He has scored eight goals in his last eight Champions League appearances and is now one of only three players with 20+ goals scored for two different clubs, joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
The striker has also scored a century of goals for the club in record time and, somehow, Bayern and Kane is a combination that just makes sense. Here is more from Andy Brassell.
Team news: Bodø/Glimt v Spurs
Bodø/Glimt (4-3-3): Haikin; Sjøvold, Bjørtuft, Aleesami, Bjørkan; Evjen, Berg, Brunstad Fet; Auklend, Høgh, Hauge
Subs: Lund, Sjong, Nielsen, Gundersen, Blomberg, Helmersen, Klynge, Riisnaes, Määttä, Jørgensen, Hansen
Spurs (4-3-3): Vicario; Spence, Danso, Van de Ven, Porro; Sarr, Bergvall, Bentancur; Johnson, Richarlison, Odobert
Subs: Kinský, Austin, Palhinha, Simons, Udogie, Gray, Kudus, Davies, Scarlett, Olusesi, Hardy
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia)
Team news: Chelsea v Benfica
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernández; Neto, Buonanotte, Garnacho; George
Subs: Jørgensen, Merrick, Gittens, João Pedro, Hato, James, Acheampong, Guiu, Estêvão, Lavia, Walsh
Benfica (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Dedić, Otamendi, António Silva, Dahl; Barrenechea, Ríos; Lukébakio, Aursnes, Sudakov; Pavlidis
Subs: Ferreira, Soares, Obrador, Ivanović, Barreiro, Schjelderup, H Araújo, T Araújo, Oliveira, Veloso, Rego, Prioste
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Farther north, Thomas Frank will hope his side can find a creative spark, something they have lacked since the start of the season. While they lie fourth in the Premier League, they are ninth for chance creation.
Last year, most of the games, it was [Dejan] Kulusevski, [James] Maddison, Sonny [Heung-min] and Dom[inic Solanke] who played. Now we have more or less a new front four and they are doing very well. Maybe we are creating more chances, dominating a bit more. All the right signs are there.
Read more from Frank and the task at hand in Bodø from Jonathan Wilson.
Check out the always-funny David Squires on Mourinho’s homecoming before watching the Portuguese describe in his own words his special connection with Chelsea.
José Mourinho made his name in European football when he followed up a 2002-03 Uefa Cup success at Porto with a historic Champions League win the next season.
He went on to lift league titles with Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid and a second Champions League with the Nerazzurri. The Portuguese legend more recently won the Europa League with Manchester United and completed a clean sweep of the major Uefa club trophies by steering Roma to Conference League glory. Now he is back at Benfica, the club where, for a few months in 2000, he took his first senior coaching role.
He faces a Chelsea that is much changed from his days as manager. Enzo Maresca has had an tumultuous tenure so far, with Conference League and Club World Cup highs and injury-woes and in-game management lows. While the comparison with Mourinho’s glory days will be clear, the Stamford Bridge hierarchy firmly believe in their current man and he must use his squad if he wants to win over Mourinho today.
How things stand in the Champions League league phase table after the first games.
And here is a refresher on who stood out in matchday one. Hint: Marcus Rashford and PSG.
Preamble
José Mourinho is back in west London. The Special One™ returns to Chelsea today with an abundance of memories that swirl around him in his introduction to English football. With three Premier League titles to his name at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho claims he remains the club’s best manager.
But he will have his work cut out for him. Benfica are without a win in their last seven Uefa competition games against English teams, their most recent being a 3-1 away victory against Tottenham in the 2013-14 Europa League round of 16. Plus the Portuguese is winless in his past seven against Chelsea. Can he cause an upset with Benfica today? And will we get a revival of his greatest hits on the touchline?
That is, of course, not all in this jam-packed matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase. Two all-time Champions League/European Cup geography records will be broken today as Thomas Frank’s Tottenham head north of the Arctic Circle to face Bodø/Glimt in the competition’s most northerly match ever. And Real Madrid are 30 minutes into their match against Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty, the competition’s most easterly match.
Meanwhile, Atlético Madrid host Eintracht Frankfurt while Ajax head to Marseille.
Plus action in the Championship and League One includes Leicester v Wrexham, Bristol v Ipswich and Blackpool v Luton.
Champions League
Atalanta 0-0 Club Brugge
Kairat Almaty 0-1 Real Madrid
Pafos v Bayern Munich
Atlético Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt
Bodø/Glimt v Spurs
Chelsea v Benfica
Inter v Slavia Prague
Marseille v Ajax
Galatasaray v Liverpool
Championship
Birmingham v Sheffield Wednesday
Blackburn v Swansea
Bristol City v Ipswich
Hull v Preston North End
Leicester v Wrexham
Middlesbrough v Stoke
Sheffield United v Southampton
Derby v Charlton
League One
Blackpool v Luton
Cardiff v Burton Albion
Phew! Lots to look forward to. Feel free to get in touch with any thoughts, predictions, queries or memories of your favourite former managers returning to their previous clubs à la José via email.
