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Pope saves Dembele's penalty!
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Peep peep (x18)! The night o’ chaos is under way.
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“What have you done to deserve this 18-match live blog from The Man?” writes Krishnamoothy V. “It feels like those simultaneous chess games that grandmasters play. My head would be scrambled and fried by half-time if I were to do this.”
They told me it was a birthday present.
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GOAL!!! No, not really; it’s not even 8pm. I’m just getting ready for the orgy of goals that is about to begin.
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PSG v Newcastle
“G’day Rob, hope you’re well!” writes the never-less-than-chipper Chris Paraskevas. “Newcastle’s rather awkward lineup doesn’t fill me with confidence at all. A front three of Willock, Woltemade and Elanga probably doesn’t strike fear into PSG, but their front three makes me feel very uncertain and awkward - like that time I turned up to my girlfriend’s high school prom with a Socceroos scarf and realised I was woefully out of my depth/underprepared on the big stage... Still hoping this will be a cracking match.”
I was surprised to see Gordon on the bench but I can understand Elanga’s selection given the likelihood that Newcastle will be forced to play on the break. Bruno not being fit enough to start is a huge blow.
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Real Madrid, Liverpool and Spurs are guaranteed a top-eight place if they win tonight. For the rest, including Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester City, it’s a bit more complicated.
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Athletic Club v Sporting team news
Athletic Club Simon, Gorosabel, Paredes, Yuri, Boiro, Ruiz de Galarreta, Rego, Gomez, Sancet, Guruzeta, Navarro.
Subs: Padilla, Vesga, Berenguer, Areso, Lekue, Serrano, Hierro, de Luis, Ibon Sanchez, Selton Sanchez, Gift.
Sporting Rui Silva, Fresneda, Diomande, Inacio, Araujo, Hjulmand, Simoes, Catamo, Braganca, Trincao, Suarez.
Subs: Virginia, Francisco Silva, Matheus Reis, Morita, Pedro Goncalves, Vagiannidis, Kochorashvili, Alisson Santos, Flavio Goncalves, Quaresma, Nel, Ricardo Mangas.
Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany)
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Thirteen minutes to kick off. A reminder that we have a separate live blog for Napoli v Chelsea, with John Brewin doing the honours.
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“After defeat, get right back on the horse, isn’t it?” writes Charles Antaki. “Ideally a rough-riding war horse to test your mettle and give you back pride and confidence. Arsenal, though, have something a little less daunting in front of them; perhaps one of those small friendly ponies you see at petting zoos. No disrespect to Kairat FC of course, but they are bottom of the league. So maybe just a gentle canter round the ring for Arteta and his men? Of course, if they fall off this time, even though it won’t mean much in Champions League terms, there will be Unhappiness among the faithful.”
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Union SG v Atalanta team news
Union SG Scherpen, Mac Allister, Burgess, Sykes, Patris, Van De Perre, Zorgane, Khalaili, Smith, Ait El Hadj, Florucz.
Subs: Chambaere, Fuseini, Schoofs, Niang, Keita, Berradi, Huygevelde, Hamoutahar, Leysen.
Atalanta Sportiello, Kossounou, Hien, Ahanor, Zappacosta, Musah, Ederson Silva, Bernasconi, Samardzic, Lookman, Krstovic.
Subs: Zalewski, Scalvini, Kolasinac, Djimsiti, De Ketelaere, de Roon, Scamacca, Pasalic, Sulemana, Carnesecchi, Rossi.
Referee Michael Oliver (England)
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Barcelona v FC Copenhagen team news
Barcelona Joan Garcia, Kounde, Cubarsi, Gerard, Balde, Eric Garcia, Lopez, Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Araujo, Torres, Rashford, Bernal, Torrents, Bardghji, Marques, Casado.
FC Copenhagen Kotarski, Meling, Hatzidiakos, Gabriel Pereira, Suzuki, Lopez, Larsson, Clem, Achouri, Elyounoussi, Dadason.
Subs: Runarsson, Gadeberg-Burr, Garananga, Claesson, Moukoko, Robert, Madsen, Moalem, Hojer, Ankamafio, West.
Referee Benoit Bastien (France)
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Borussia Dortmund v Inter Milan team news
Borussia Dortmund Kobel, Can, Mane, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha, Bensebaini, Beier, Silva, Guirassy.
Subs: Ostrzinski, Meyer, Yan Couto, Brandt, Chukwuemeka, Adeyemi.
Inter Milan Sommer, Akanji, Acerbi, Bisseck, Luis Henrique, Sucic, Zielinski, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Bonny, Thuram.
Subs: Di Gennaro, Josep Martinez, de Vrij, Lautaro Martinez, Frattesi, Diouf, Carlos Augusto, Darmian, Cocchi, Bovo, Esposito, Bastoni.
Referee Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
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Benfica v Real Madrid team news
Benfica Trubin, Dedic, Tomas Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl, Barreiro, Aursnes, Prestianni, Sudakov, Schjelderup, Pavlidis.
Subs: Ferreira, Antonio Silva, Barrenechea, Bruma, Ivanovic, Manu, Banjaqui, Neto, Oliveira, Anisio Cabral, Rego, Prioste.
Real Madrid Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Huijsen, Carreras, Guler, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Mastantuono, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Lunin, Gonzalez, Carvajal, Alaba, Camavinga, Rodrygo, Gonzalo Garcia, Ceballos, Francisco Garcia, Diaz, Aguado, Cestero.
Referee Davide Massa (Italy)
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Liverpool v Qarabag
Remember the summer of 2008? That was when Pep Guardiola was appointed as first-team coach at Barcelona, Jürgen Klopp arrived at Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea gambled on a certain Luiz Felipe Scolari. Since then the west London club have had 12 different permanent managers. Qarabag, who Liverpool play in the Champions League on Wednesday, have had one: Gurban Gurbanov, also known as the Azerbaijani Sir Alex Ferguson.
Gurbanov has become one of the longest serving elite coaches in the world and he has built a remarkable empire, turning the club into a force to be reckoned with in European competitions.
This season is destined to be their best. As Qarabag visit Anfield on the last matchday of the league phase of the Champions League, they have a very good chance of qualifying for the next phase. They are 18th on 10 points, one ahead of European powerhouses such as Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven. Even a defeat may be enough to stay in the playoff places.
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Liverpool v Qarabag team news
Ryan Gravenberch starts in defence for Liverpool, with Andy Robertson returning at left-back.
Liverpool Alisson, Frimpong, Gravenberch, Van Dijk, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Endo, Kerkez, Chiesa, Nyoni, Nallo, Morrison, Ngumoha.
Qarabag FK Kochalski, Matheus Silva, Mustafazade, Medina, Cafarquliyev, Pedro Bicalho, Jankovic, Andrade, Montiel, Zoubir, Duran.
Subs: Ramazanov, Buntic, Mmaee, Kouakou, Akhundzade, Addai, Daniel, Kashchuk, Qurbanly, Bayramov, Abbas Huseynov, Badavi Huseynov.
Referee Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia)
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Paris Saint-Germain v Newcastle team news
A blow for Newcastle, whose captain Bruno Guimaraes is only fit enough for the bench.
Paris Saint-Germain Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Neves, Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Barcola.
Subs: Chevalier, James, Lucas Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Goncalo Ramos, Doue, Hernandez, Mayulu, Mbaye.
Newcastle Pope, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall, Miley, Ramsey, Tonali, Elanga, Willock, Woltemade.
Subs: Ramsdale, Trippier, Wissa, Gordon, Barnes, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Alex Murphy, Guimaraes, Shahar, Harris.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
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Updated at 20.37 CET
Napoli v Chelsea
This is the first meeting between the sides since a classic tie in 2011-12. Chelsea came back from a 3-1 defeat in Naples to progress on a wild night at Stamford Bridge, and one of our own was there.
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Napoli v Chelsea team news
Napoli Meret, Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus, Buongiorno, Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera, Vergara, Elmas, Hojlund.
Subs: Contini, Spinelli, Gutierrez, Lukaku, Beukema, De Chiara, Garofalo.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, James, Fofana, Cucurella, Santos, Caicedo, Estevao, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Jorgensen, Merrick, Badiashile, Delap, Palmer, Bynoe-Gittens, Hato, Chalobah, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Garnacho.
Referee Clement Turpin (France)
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PSV v Bayern Munich team news
PSV Kovar, Dest, Schouten, Obispo, Junior, Til, Veerman, Man, Wanner, Perisic, Saibari.
Subs: Schiks, Smolenaars, Saleh-Eddine, Flamingo, Driouech, Bajraktarevic, Sildialli, Fernandez, Nagalo, Verkooijen.
Bayern Munich Urbig, Bischof, Upamecano, Tah, Ito, Kimmich, Pavlovic, Karl, Musiala, Diaz, Jackson.
Subs: Neuer, Ulreich, Gnabry, Goretzka, Kane, Olise, Davies, Boey, Kiala, Mike, Chavez.
Referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro (Portugal)
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Arsenal v FC Kairat team news
With Arsenal already sure of a place int he last 16, Mikel Arteta has picked a (very, very strong) reserve team.
Arsenal Arrizabalaga, White, Mosquera, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Norgaard, Havertz, Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Subs: Setford, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Salmon, Porter, Ibrahim, Bailey-Joseph.
FC Kairat Anarbekov, Shirobokov, Martynovich, Sorokin, Tapalov, Glazer, Sadybekov, Mata, Mrynskiy, Edmilson, Jorginho.
Subs: Buch, Kalmurza, Kasabulat, Kurgin, Stanojev, Gromyko, Bagdat, Ricardinho.
Referee Urs Schnyder (Switzerland)
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Updated at 20.15 CET
Man City v Galatasaray team news
Erling Haaland returns to the City side after being rested against Wolves at the weekend.
Man City Donnarumma, Matheus Luiz, Khusanov, Ake, Ait Nouri, O’Reilly, Cherki, Silva, Marmoush, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Gonzalez, Foden, Gray, Mukasa, Alleyne, Lewis, Mfuni.
Galatasaray Cakir, Sallai, Sanchez, Bardakci, Jakobs, Gundogan, Lemina, Sane, Gabriel Sara, Baris Yilmaz, Osimhen.
Subs: Sen, Guvenc, Icardi, Yunus Akgun, Elmali, Kutucu, Ayhan, Torreira, Kahraman, Karasu, Kocak, Singo.
Referee Alejandro Hernandez (Spain)
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Updated at 20.15 CET
Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur team news
Randal Kolo Muani and Wilson Odobert, who were involved in a car accident yesterday, both start for Spurs.
Eintracht Frankfurt Santos, Amenda, Koch, Theate, Buta, Hojlund, Larsson, Brown, Skhiri, Gotze, Knauff.
Subs: Zetterer, Grahl, Chaibi, Dahoud, Kristensen, Bahoya, Doan, Chandler, Collins, Doumbia, Dills, Staff.
Tottenham Hotspur Vicario, Spence, Romero, Danso, Udogie, Gray, Joao Palhinha, Odobert, Sarr, Simons, Muani.
Subs: Kinsky, Austin, Solanke, Scarlett, Kyerematen, Hardy, Byfield, Rowswell, Olusesi, Hall.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain)
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Updated at 20.16 CET
David Hytner
Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur
Thomas Frank’s preparations for the Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night have been rocked by injuries to Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven – and a car crash affecting Randal Kolo Muani and Wilson Odobert.
The Tottenham manager reported that Kolo Muani and Odobert were OK after pictures emerged on social media of them standing by a black Ferrari with significant damage to its front end.
It is understood that the car belongs to Kolo Muani and had a tyre blowout on the motorway. Odobert was following behind in a separate vehicle and stopped to check on him. The players were making their way from the Spurs training ground to Stansted airport for the team flight to Frankfurt. Frank said neither had boarded it and they had to take a different flight to Frankfurt later on Tuesday night.
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Jonathan Wilson
Has there been a great game in the Champions League group stage this season? Probably not. Even if there had been, it almost certainly didn’t mean all that much. But that’s the way of the modern game: an extremely protracted clearing of the throat before the real business begins.
Uefa will proudly tell the world that only six teams have nothing to play for in the final round of games on Wednesday, but whether it was worth 126 games to get to the mild peril of Napoli or Club Brugge possibly going out, or the questionable thrill of finding out whether Tottenham or Atalanta will have to endure the playoff round, is debatable.
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The permutations
Look, it’s really complicated. But Billy Munday and Michael Butler have put together this very useful guide to what the 36 teams (well, 32, as four of them are out) need to do tonight.
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The Champions League table (as it stands)
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, goal-by-goal coverage of matchday eight in the Champions League. It’s the last night of the league phase, which means all 36 teams are playing simultaneously and every football fan on planet earth has the phrase “as it stands” on their lips.
This is the sophomore season of the Champions League’s Swiss model, so we’re still getting used to the unique chaos of this final round of fixtures. For those unfamiliar with the new format, let’s get down to brass tacks.
The top eight teams go straight through to the round of 16.
The teams finishing between ninth and 24th go into the playoff round, the draw for which takes place on Friday. Each team goes into a particular bracket based on their position: for example, with the current positions, Manchester City (11th) and Atletico Madrid (12th) would play either Monaco (21st) or PSV Eindhoven (22nd). The winners of those ties would then play Spurs (5th) or Paris Saint-Germain (6th) in the last 16.
The teams who finish between 25th and 36th get nada. Zilch. Bugger all. Not even a Conference League parachute.
City are the only English team outside the top eight going into tonight’s games, but the table is Spandex-tight: there are only two points separating Real Madrid in third and Atalanta in 13th. Arsenal and Bayern Munich have qualified for the last 16; the rest all have work to do.
We’ll attempt to keep across all 18 matches but neurological and physical restrictions may preclude this, so our main focus will be the six English teams. Here’s the full fixture list, all 8pm kick-offs.
Arsenal v Kairat Almaty
Athletic Club v Sporting CP
Atletico Madrid v Bodo/Glimt
Ajax v Olympiacos
Barcelona v Copenhagen
Bayer Leverkusen v Villarreal
Benfica v Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund v Inter
Club Brugge v Marseille
Eintracht Frankfurt v Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool v Qarabag
Man City v Galatasaray
Monaco v Juventus
Napoli v Chelsea
Pafos v Slavia Prague
Paris Saint-Germain v Newcastle
PSV Eindhoven v Bayern Munich
Union SG v Atalanta
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