Key events
An early half-chance for Bologna, with Kacper Urbanski sending his shot well wide from just outside the area.
A quick Championship update: Leeds have raced into a 2-0 lead at home to Watford, with Cardiff, Preston and Stoke leading Portsmouth, Norwich and Bristol City (respectively) by the same score. Elsewhere, Oxford lead Derby 1-0 in a battle between promoted sides.
And not forgetting North London …
We’re about to kick off in Birmingham – where Villa fans have just unfurled a spectacular lion-based tifo – plus Turin, Paris, Madrid, Girona and Graz. It’s on!
Full time in the early games: it finished Milan 3-1 Club Brugge, and Monaco 5-1 Red Star Belgrade. That means Monaco are top of the big Champions League table, although probably not for long.
Back at San Siro, 16-year-old Francesco Camarda sends a header looping over the keeper, and is mobbed by his teammates, who lift him in the air. But wait, here comes VAR to spoil everyone’s fun – it’s chalked off for a marginal offside. It stays Milan 3-1 Club Brugge.
“Hei from Norway,” writes Brendan Large. “I can’t be the only one thinking this new format has lead to hell of a lot of drubbings. Maybe the big teams play each other a bit more often, but the goal tallies being racked up in some games are not what anyone wants surely?”
Very true – it’s perhaps been overlooked thanks to a couple of surprise results, but we’ve already seen Bayern win 9-2 and Dortmund smash poor Celtic 7-1. It could get ugly in January if goal difference is needed for any of the big boys to secure a top-eight spot.
Juventus v Stuttgart: team news
Juventus (4-3-3): Perin; Savona, Kalulu, Danilo (c), Cabal; Fagioli, McKennie, Douglas Luiz; Francisco Conceição, Vlahovic., Yildiz.
Subs: Pinsoglio, Daffara, Gatti, Locatelli, Adzic, Thuram, Weah, Cambiaso, Rouhi, Mbangula.
Stuttgart (4-2-3-1): Nübel; Vagnoman, Rouault, Chabot, Mittelstadt; Karazor (c), Stiller; Millot, Undav, Leweling; Demirovic.
Subs: Bredlow, Seimen, Al Dakhil, Keitel, Toure, Kratzig, Stenzel, Rieder, Chase, Jarzinho.
Reijnders strikes again, and Milan lead Club Brugge 3-1! A redemption arc almost complete for the midfielder, who was sent off against Udinese in Serie A this weekend. Now striker Francesco Camarda is coming on for his Champions League debut – he’s 16 years old, and becomes Milan’s youngest-ever player in the competition. And Monaco do now lead Red Star 4-1: it’s Minamino with his second goal, set up by Embolo.
There are also a stack of games in the Football League tonight – our main focus is on Europe but I’ll endeavour to keep you updated. The Championship fixtures are as follows: Cardiff v Portsmouth, Leeds v Watford, Oxford v Derby, Preston v Norwich, QPR v Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea, Stoke v Bristol City.
Aston Villa v Bologna: teams in full
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martínez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, McGinn (c); Durán.
Subs: Olsen, Cash, Mings, Barkley, Buendía, Watkins, Digne, Philogene-Bidace, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Ramsey, Kamara.
Bologna (4-3-3): Skorupski; Posch, Beukema (c), Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Fabbian, Freuler, Urbanski; Orsolini, Dallinga, Ndoye.
Subs: Bagnolini, Ravaglia, Holm, Moro, Castro, Iling-Junior, Casale, Corazza, Pobega, Odgaard, Miranda.
Don’t forget, you can follow Arsenal v Shakhtar with Scott Murray here:
And here’s an excellent and timely interview with Arsenal’s Ukrainian star, Oleksandr Zinchenko:
Milan had been pegged back by 10-man Club Brugge, and Daniel Fonseca’s decision to withdraw Rafael Leão was greeted with whistles. But the man who replaced him – Noah Okofor – immediately sets up Tijjani Reijnders to restore the hosts’ lead!
Nothing so dramatic happening in Monaco, where the hosts now lead 3-1. Wilfried Singo scored the third goal, with Breel Embolo then scoring his second – which was subsequently disallowed for handball.
PSG v PSV: team news
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos (c), Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Zaïre-Emery, João Neves, Fabián Ruiz; Dembélé, Lee, Barcola.
Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Asensio, Doué, Vitinha, Muani, Mayulu, Lucas Beraldo, Skriniar, Zague.
PSV Eindhoven (4-3-3): Benítez, Mauro Júnior, Flamingo, Boscagli, Dams; Til, Tillman, Saibari; Bakayoko, Luuk de Jong (c), Lang.
Subs: Drommel, Schiks, Obispo, Pepi, Driouech, Babadi, Land, Oppegard, Ledezma, Nagalo.
Here’s the Aston Villa team sheet – and Jhon Durán starts in place of Ollie Watkins. There are three other changes from the win at Fulham – Ian Maatsen and Ezri Konsa replace Lucas Digne and Matty Cash in defence, with John McGinn in for Jacob Ramsey in midfield.
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund: team news
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois; Lucas Vázquez, Éder Militão, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Modric (c), Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior.
Subs: Lunin, González, Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Arda Güler, Endrick,
Jesús Vallejo, Ceballos, Fran García.
Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Nmecha; Gittens, Brandt (c), Malen; Guirassy.
Subs: Meyer, Laurenz Lotka, Anton, Groß, Beier, Can, Campbell, Watjen, Mane, Kabar, Azhil.
Half time in the early kick-offs, each pitting a former European Cup winner against a previous finalist. At San Siro, it’s Milan 1-0 Club Brugge, Christian Pulisic scoring directly from a corner after Raphael Onyedika was sent off for the visitors.
Elsewhere, Monaco lead Crvena Zvezda/Red Star Belgrade 2-1, with Takumi Minamino and Breel Embolo on target for the hosts on either side of Cherif Ndiaye’s penalty for the Serbian side.
Preamble
The jury’s still out on the new Champions League format, but the last round of games did deliver drama and upsets, with two of Europe’s biggest beasts cut down to size. Aston Villa repeated their 1-0 European Cup final win over Bayern Munich, with Jhon “Duran” Durán bringing the 80s vibes back to Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side have an opportunity to make it three wins from three at home to Bologna tonight. The Italians are back at Europe’s top table for the first time since 1965 – making Villa look like precocious upstarts in comparison – but have made a slow start to the season after their former manager, Thiago Motta, hightailed it to Juve this summer.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid need to shake off the indignity of a 1-0 defeat to Lille last time out, and will take on Dortmund in a rerun of last season’s Wembley finale. Will it end in similar fashion tonight, with the side currently top of the leviathan Champions League table carving out several chances before conceding late on? Probably.
In their post-Mbappé era, Paris Saint-Germain are still flying in Ligue 1 but have made an indifferent start in Europe, getting lucky against Girona before a meek surrender against Arsenal last time. Tonight, they host PSV in the PS Derby. The Dutch champions have won nine from nine in the Eredivisie this season, but continue to underwhelm in the Champions League.
And we still haven’t mentioned Arsenal v Shakhtar (which you can follow over here), Juventus seeking a third straight win against Stuttgart, Rúben Amorim’s Sporting swashbucklers taking on Sturm Graz, or, er, Girona v Slovan Bratislava. Yowza!
