CHAMPIONS LEAGUE returns for another thrilling night of action after Tuesday’s goal-fest.
Aston Villa face a mammoth encounter against German giants Bayern Munich while Liverpool host Italian outfit Bologna.
Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid are also in action tonight as the Champions League kings face Lille.
Both English sides will be determined to follow in the footsteps of Arsenal, who cruised to a 2-0 win against French champions PSG, and Manchester City, who thrashed Slovakian kings Slovan Bratislava 4-0.
- Kick-off times: 5.45pm/8pm BST
- TV channel: TNT Sports
- Live stream: discovery+
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Villa vs Bayern team news
We’re not able to give you the lineups for tonight’s headline clash just yet but here’s a peek at some of the early news.
Aston Villa will be without John McGinn after he picked up a hamstring injury over a week ago.
Matty Cash has suffered a similar fate and will miss tonight’s game at Villa Park, while Tyson Mings and Boubacar Kamara are both expected to miss the match despite returning to training after long-term injuries.
For Bayern Munich it’ll be all eyes on Harry Kane.
The prolific bagsman has been expected to take part, but there had been much concern after he hobbled off with injury during Bayen’s 1-1 draw with Leverkusen at the weekend.
Sacha Boey, Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic are all confirmed as out.
Credit: Getty One hour warning
We’re now just an hour away from the two early kick off’s of today’s Champions League fixtures.
Clashes between Girona and Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donestsk and Atalanta are due to kick off at 5:45pm.
Seven other games will follow at 8pm – including English sides Aston Villa and Liverpool in action.
Slot back in
Arne Slot has called for his Liverpool side to prove they belong back in the Champions League after missing out on qualification for the competition last season.
The Reds boss is hoping their absence last year will light a fire under his players’ bellies as they take on Bologna at Anfield tonight.
The [players] have missed out on the Champions League for a year so when they step out on the pitch tomorrow I want to see this, I want to feel like they feel ‘Ah, we missed it for a season’.
A club of this standard has to be ready and I’m hoping and expecting the same from our fans.
Arne Slot
Kane be tamed
Aston Villa will have to do all they can to try and stop Harry Kane at Villa Park this evening.
Villa boss Unai Emery has called on his team to be “alert and focused” to try and prevent Kane from hurting his side.
Here’s a look at the numbers that the England captain put up in last season’s Champions League campaign…
Aston-born Brummie Ozzy Osbourne tweets to show support for Villa
Villa host European giants Bayern Munich in the West Midlands tonight.
Boss Vincent Kompany has remained tight-lipped on whether Harry Kane will feature, after the striker came off injured on the weekend.
But Kane has travelled to Villa Park and trained with the team yesterday.
Villa’s Ollie Watkins on Champions League nights
Wins tonight will take Villa & Liverpool joint-top
If Aston Villa pull off a historic victory over Bayern Munich later, Unai Emery’s side will jump into joint-top of the table.
Likewise, a routine win for Liverpool will see them up into the top eight as well with six from six points.
The exact positioning will obviously depend on goals scored, with Dortmund leading the way with a plus 10 goal difference.
It means both Villa and Liverpool will overtake Arsenal and City – albeit there’s a long way to go.
Remember 16 points should be enough to secure automatic qualification.
Credit: TNT – Not full table Has Jude Bellingham lost his goalscoring touch?
The Real Madrid star is now the left-sided No8 and the goals have begun to dry up.
But he remains effective as an all-around, all-action, box-to-box player with versatility.
Bellingham is yet to score in this campaign, but only returned from injury to start Madrid’s 3-1 European win over VfB Stuttgart.
The former Dortmund captain has started every Los Blancos game since – including the feisty Madrid derby on the weekend.
Madrid, the 15-time champs, travel to France to face Lille tonight.
James McAtee scored his first goal for Man City last night
Champions League ref suspended after threats to kill
A Champions League referee has been suspended from officiating after allegedly threatening to kill a player during a game.
Italian referee Fabio Maresca has been removed from ref duties for a month, according to Corriere della Sera.
Maresca was also taken out of Tuesday’s Champions League clash between PSV and Sporting CP.
The alleged incident occurred during a brief conversation in English between Maresca and Al-Arabi star Khald Al Mershed on Friday.
Read more about the shocking incident here.
Gravenberch becoming increasingly important for Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch was named Player-of-the-Match during Liverpool’s 3-1 opening win over AC Milan last month.
The former Bayern man followed that up with another great display in the 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday.
Gabby Agbonlahor told talkSPORT: “He didn’t get much game time under Jurgen Klopp.
“But this season under Arne Slot he has had more opportunities.
“He’s got strength, he’s got aggression, he’s got pace, he’s got skill, he can run with the ball and he’s a unit.”
Gravenberch was also the driving force in midfield in Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford last month.
He is set to start against Bologna tonight from 8pm.
Reminder of tonight’s Champions League schedule
Here’s all the Champions League action scheduled for Wednesday.
5:45pm
- Girona vs Feyenoord
- Shakhtar Donetsk vs Atalanta
8pm:
- Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich
- Benfica vs Atletico Madrid
- Dinamo Zagreb vs Monaco
- Lille vs Real Madrid
- Liverpool vs Bologna
- RB Leipzig vs Juventus
- Sturm Graz vs Club Brugge
How many points do teams need to qualify for the knockout rounds?
A new ‘Swiss-style’ 36-league format has been introduced this season.
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the last 16.
While the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off against each other to join the top eight teams.
The Opta supercomputer believes 16 points from a possible 24 – so five wins and a draw from eight matches would be automatically qualify.
The bottom 12 teams – from 25th to 36th – will be eliminated with no access to the Europa League.
Most Champions League goal involvements since September 2023
- Harry Kane – 16
- Vinicius Junior – 10
- Phil Foden – 10
- Bukayo Saka – 9
- Kylian Mbappe – 9
- Antoine Griezmann – 9
- Jude Bellingham – 9
Erling Haaland’s greatness continues as he overtakes legends
Haaland scored his 42nd Champions League goal against Slovan Bratislava last night – and did it in 41 games.
The 24-year-old has now jumped to 18th on the all-time list for goals scored in the Champions League.
He has bagged more times than Ferenc Puskas, Edinson Cavani, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Gerd Muller and Luis Suarez.
If the Man City star records 99 more…. he’ll surpass Cristiano Ronaldo’s record.
Aston Villa fans have “goosebumps” after watching club Champions League video
Villa’s European Cup winning captain Dennis Mortimer stars in the touching clip.
Current Champions League table after Game 1 of Week 2
Credit: TNT Liverpool team news v Bologna
New signing Federico Chiesa not “expected to be in the team” after undergoing a scan on a foot issue this week.
Harvey Elliott is also unavailable through injury.
Diogo Jota is expected to be fit despite the fact he also missed training in front of cameras on Tuesday, so it’s likely he won’t start.
Darwin Nunez looks set to return to the squad after missing Wolves win through illness.
Andy Robertson is set to be available in some capacity after suffering a late knock at the Molineux.
More from Bayern Munich boss Kompany on Kane’s fitness
Will Harry Kane be available to start against Aston Villa?
Kompany said: “I think you have seen Harry was training yesterday, that went well.
“But we will still have to wait and see how the situation is and then we will make the correct decision.
“He trained with us and hopefully everything will work out fine.”
Watkins: These are the nights we all dreamt of
Watkins is ready to fulfil his childhood dream by scoring on Wednesday in a repeat of the 1982 European Cup final.
The Torquay-born striker, who was playing at Exeter seven years ago, is loving his meteoritic rise and is determined to enjoy the moment.
It’s really exciting for me, for my journey and the club.
It’s a long time since there were Champions League nights at Villa Park.
These are the nights we all dreamt of especially since I came here. Playing Champions League football for Villa is the best it can get really.
I think we’ve all got to go out there and enjoy it.
Not make the most of it, because that sounds like we’re underestimating ourselves, but just enjoy it because it’s so long since the club has been involved in a competition like this.
I haven’t experienced Champions League football before so I want to enjoy it because this is what I dreamt of as a kid.
Ollie Watkins
What channels are Aston Villa and Liverpool on tonight?
Villa’s mouthwatering showdown with Bayern Munich is on TNT Sport 1 at 8pm.
Bologna face their biggest match in 60 years when they take on six-time champs Liverpool at Anfield.
The Reds are on TNT Sport 2 from 8pm.
Saka walked out with team-mate’s son against PSG
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka walked out with Raheem Sterling’s son last night.
Thiago Sterling was all smiles as he travelled onto the pitch before kick-off.
Though, Sterling didn’t manage to get off the bench.
Aston Villa early team news for debut Champions League home match
Unai Emery gave an injury update ahead of Aston Villa’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.
Captain John McGinn has been ruled out with the injury he picked up against Wolves.
Matty Cash remains unavailable to face the Bundesliga side with a hamstring issue, but has returned to training.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are nearing returns.
Villa put in a strong performance to beat BSC Young Boys 3-0 on the club’s Champions League debut.
Harry Kane faces late fitness test ahead of Villa clash
Kane will be assessed on Wednesday morning to see whether he can feature for Bayern Munich tonight.
The England captain hobbled out of Bayern’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday after suffering an ankle injury.
He trained on Tuesday morning and travelled with the squad to Birmingham, but a final decision has not be made on his fitness.
Kane has already scored 10 goals and added five assists in seven games this season.
Including FOUR in Bayern’s 9-2 dismantling of Dinamo Zagreb a fortnight ago.
Saka first since Henry to score direct free-kick in Champions League for Arsenal
Bukayo Saka’s curling and bouncing free kick against PSG was Arsenal’s first from a direct free-kick in 144 Champions League games.
The last free-kick was Thierry Henry’s hit against Roma in 2002, Arsenal won 3-1 on the night.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
