Key events
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus (Bellingham 57)
It’s Jude Bellingham who scores but the goal is really Vinícius Júnior’s. He twists and turns inside the area, getting a shot off that rattles the post, and Bellingham is the quickest to react from close range to tap in.
GOAL! Chelsea 5-1 Ajax (George 48)
Tyrique George gets in on the fun, with another deflection costing Ajax. He’s first on to the loose ball just inside the area, firing away with his left foot, and the ball rattles off Lucas Rosa, into the net. Ajax’s mare continues.
Real Madrid 0-0 Juventus: Dušan Vlahovic nearly slots in for Juventus on the break, five minutes into the second half, but Thibaut Courtois’ left leg is in the way as he closes down the angle.
Half-time scores
RED CARD! Emerson sent off for Marseille!
This is rather bizarre: Emerson Palmieri, having received a yellow just minutes ago for handball, is given his second in added time for diving! The referee initially gave Marseille a penalty but VAR had a look and the decision was reversed, with the French club the ones to suffer.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-1 Ajax (Estêvão pen 45+6)
Fernández gives Estêvão his blessing, and the Brazilian teenager wallops the ball into the top left corner.
Another penalty for Chelsea!
This is getting ridiculous. Youri Baas lands a foot on Estêvão and Chelsea have another penalty on the stroke of half-time. Ajax have imploded here.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-1 Ajax (Fernández pen 45)
Fernández won the penalty and slots it in, too, comfortably finding the right corner.
Penalty to Chelsea!
The chaos continues at Stamford Bridge, with Wout Weghorst committing a very silly sliding challenge inside the Chelsea area. It’s blatant.
Monaco 0-0 Tottenham: It remains goalless as we reach the 40-minute mark in this one, with Kevin Danso heading straight at the keeper after a deft cross by Lucas Bergvall. Anywho, Danso fouled in the buildup.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 3-0 Club Brugge (Díaz 34)
Luis Díaz adds to this demolition job, breaking into the area from the left before walloping a shot in, off the underside of the crossbar.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Ajax (Weghorst pen 32)
Wout Weghorst, we meet again. The former Manchester United forward beats Jørgensen, the keeper getting a bit on it after diving to his left.
Penalty to Ajax!
It’s all going on, with Raúl Moro going down inside the area after Tosin catches the Ajax winger’s right foot. It’s an easy call for the referee.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Ajax (Caicedo 27)
Oh, this is tough on Ajax. Moisés Caicedo launches a piledriver from range … it’s low and probably not going in … until it takes a wicked deflection off Josip Sutalo into the net.
GOAL! Sporting 0-1 Marseille (Paixão 14)
It’s gorgeous from Igor Paixão to give Marseille the lead in Lisbon. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sets it up, lofting the ball to the other wing: Paixão collects, cuts in from the left, and finds the top right corner from outside the area.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Ajax (Guiu 18)
Chelsea are quick to take advantage of the red card, with Marc Guiu tapping in from close range after a header across goal by Wesley Fofana. It suddenly looks a rather straightforward night in London.
RED CARD! Taylor sent off for Ajax!
Kenneth Taylor is off for Ajax after a VAR review, his studs up as he lunges into Enzo Fernández! The ref doesn’t have to spend much time looking at the on-pitch monitor before upgrading his yellow to red.
Bayern Munich 2-0 Club Brugge (Kane 14)
There it is. Harry Kane takes 14 minutes to rack up his 20th club goal of the season. Konrad Laimer bursts into the area and plays an appetising ball across goal, with Kane there for perhaps the easiest tap-in of his career.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Club Brugge: Karl, an age-group international with Germany, is making his first Champions League start. A special moment, that was also his first senior club goal.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-0 Club Brugge (Karl 5)
Bayern have scored … and it’s not Harry Kane! No, it’s the 17-year-old Lennart Karl with a stunner: he picks up the ball in midfield, jinks past his man, thunders into the D, and wallops the ball into the top right corner. Remember the name!
Peeeeeeeep!
All seven 8pm BST kick-offs in the Champions League are underway. Let the goals commence!
Nick Wayne opens up on his concerns:
I’m worried. Monaco might just find their feet and the ball. Brittle doesn’t describe Spurs’ frontline. COYS
As mentioned earlier, there’s no Eric Dier for Monaco, the former Spurs centre-half missing with a hamstring injury. The two sides met in the group stage of the Champions League back in 2016 … with Monaco winning both games 2-1. Bernardo Silva was on the scoresheet at Wembley in front of 85,000 fans.
It’s full-time in the early kick-offs, with Athletic Bilbao and Galatasaray racking up 3-1 wins (Qarabag and Bodo/Glimt the respective losers). Here’s how the table’s looking, with Qarabag also losing their 100% record.
Atalanta v Slavia Prague teams
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Kossounou, Hien, Djimsiti, Zappacosta, De Roon, Éderson, Bernasconi, De Ketelaere, Krstovic, Lookman
Subs: Rossi, Sportiello, Musah, Sulemana, Pasalic, Scamacca, Samardzic, Bellanova, Brescianini, Zalewski, Ahanor, Maldini
Slavia Prague: Markovic, Boril, Vlcek, Zima, Mbodji, Moses, Zafeiris, Dorley, Kusej, Chory, Provod
Subs: Stanek, Rezek, Chaloupek, Cham, Hashioka, Sanyang, Chytil, Sadilek, Prekop, Jelinek, Sloncik, Kovar
Chelsea v Ajax teams
Chelsea: Jørgensen, Caicedo, Fofana, Adarabioyo, Hato, Fernández, Lavia, Buonanotte, Estêvão, Gittens, Guiu
Subs: Sánchez, Merrick, Cucurella, Pedro Neto, Santos, Chalobah, James, George, Acheampong, Walsh, Garnacho, Kavuma-McQueen
Ajax: Pasveer, Rosa, Itakura, Sutalo, Baas, McConnell, Gloukh, Taylor, Moro, Weghorst, Godts
Subs: Jaros, Heerkens, Gaaei, Regeer, Edvardsen, Klaassen, Konadu, Mokio, Fitz-Jim, Alders, Bounida
Monaco v Tottenham teams
Monaco: Kohn, Kehrer, Salisu, Henrique, Diatta, Teze, Coulibaly, Ouattara, Akliouche, Fati, Balogun
Subs: Cabral, Bamba, Michal, Ilenikhena, Minamino, Idumbo, Biereth, Mawissa, Stawiecki , Lienard, Golovin
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Gray, Danso, Van de Ven, Bentancur, João Palhinha, Bergvall, Odobert, Richarlison, Kudus
Subs: Byfield, Williams-Barnett, Olusesi, Scarlett, Muani, Kinsky, Austin, Simons, Johnson, Spence, Sarr
Bayern Munich v Club Brugge teams
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro, Kimmich, Pavlovic, Karl, Olise, Díaz, Kane
Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Jackson, Bischof, Boey, Mike, Manuba
Club Brugge: Jackers, Sabbe, Ordoñez, Mechele, Meijer, Stankovic, Forbs, Audoor, Vanaken, Tzolis, Tresoldi
Subs: Van den Heuvel, Romero, Vetlesen, Sandra, Vermant, Nilsson, Siquet, Spileers, Seys, Diakhon, Campbell, Furo
Real Madrid v Juventus teams
Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Éder Militão, Carreras, Tchouaméni, Güler, Diaz, Bellingham, Mbappé, Vinicius Júnior
Subs: Pitarch, Mastantuono, Mendy, Fran Garcia, Gonzalo, Rodrygo, Endrick, Camavinga, González, Lunin
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Gatti, Rugani, Kelly, Kalulu, McKennie, Thuram, Cambiaso, Koopmeiners, Vlahovic, Yildiz
Subs: David, João Mário, Miretti, Openda, Kostic, Adzic, Zhegrova, Francisco Conceição, Locatelli, Fuscaldo, Perin
Sporting v Marseille teams
Sporting: Rui Silva, Fresneda, Debast, Inácio, Araújo, Hjulmand, Simões, Quenda, Trincão, Goncalves, Suárez
Subs: João Virgínia, Reis, Morita, Catamo, Vagiannidis, Kochorashvili, Diomande, Santos, Ribeiro, Quaresma, Ioannidis, Mangas
Marseille: Rulli, Pavard, Aguerd, Balerdi, Emerson, Vermeeren, Højbjerg, Igor Paixão, Greenwood, Aubameyang, Weah
Subs: De Lange, Van Neck, Egan-Riley, Garcia, Gomes, O’Riley, Nadir, Vaz, Murillo
Elsewhere, can Liverpool make it five in a row?
Two games are already underway and halfway through. Athletic Bilbao are one-all with Qarabag, while Galatasaray are 2-0 up against Bodo/Glimt thanks to a Victor Osimhen brace. The second was comical, with Osimhen getting in the way of a backpass to set up a simple one-on-one with the keeper.
Preamble
GOALS! REDS! PENS! Tuesday night was hectic in the Champions League, with 43 (!) goals across nine games (Yara deserves a raise). Here’s to more tonight, even if my fingers are left unusable for the next fortnight.
We’ve got some juicy fixtures: Real Madrid v Juventus is the heritage pick, while it’s the Eric Dier derby with Spurs’ visit to Monaco (even if he’s injured). Chelsea host Ajax, while Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich welcome Club Brugge. Keep me company for the 44 goals to be scored this evening, with my eyeballs ready to explode as I juggle various screens. Let’s play!
