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A left foot shot from Newcastle United's Yoane Wissa opens the scoring against PSV. Photograph: Scott Heppell/Reuters
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Kenan Yildiz hammers a shot just wide for Juventus v Benfica. It’s 0-0 there.
I went to a game at the Gewiss Stadium a few years back. Atalanta 0-0 Udinese. Rasmus Højlund was playing. The old town is nice in Bergamo, to be fair.
17 min: Chelsea have a goal ruled out at Stamford Bridge. Fernández heads in at the far post but there was a push somewhere. Rosenior looks far from gruntled on the touchline.
Goal! 16 min: Atalanta 1-0 Athletic Club (Scamacca)
It’s that man again! I mean, since the last time he scored, whenever that was. The former West Ham hitman nods in a regulation header and the Italian club lead in Bergamo.
“Hi Luke,” emails Dan. I don’t like the look of this.
“Bayern Munich? Seriously? Please. That’s like Libération suggesting there’s a team called ‘Manchester Unifié’. Either they’re Bayern München or Bavaria Munich. Please, please, please.”
Fascinating stuff!
Goal! 10 min: Slavia Prague 1-0 Barcelona (Kusej)
Vasil Kusej bundles the ball in at the far post from a corner. It’s about -6C in Prague, Matt Smith tells us on the TNT Sports Goals Show.
Goal! 8 min: Newcastle 1-0 PSV (Wissa)
It’s there! More good pressure high up the pitch from Newcastle. A poor clearance by the PSV goalie Kovar falls to Bruno Guimarães, who slides a pass instantly to Joelinton. His Brazilian compatriot squares for Yoane Wissa, who has a relatively simple task to pass the ball into the net.
6 min: Joelinton does well to win the ball back high up the pitch. The crowd roars but the home side can’t fashion a clear chance from it, despite precious few PSV defenders being anywhere to be seen.
5 min: Anthony Gordon lashes a volley over from a tight angle, meeting a cross from the Newcastle right that was half-cleared. Half a chance at best.
First half kick-off!
Under way at St James’ Park – and elsewhere.
Uefa.com have an “as it stands” playoff table here, if you like that sort of thing.
Galatasaray 1-1 Atlético and Qarabag 3-2 Eintracht Frankfurt are final scores.
Qarabag are 17th in the table after that excellent win, and in with a shout of making the playoffs.
“I back the team that starts,” says Eddie Howe. “I think we’re in good physical condition to attack the game.
“I think they [PSV] will be very true to themselves. That’s what I admire about them. They will want the ball, play quite an open style. They’ve got some really good technical players … we don’t underestimate them. We know we’ve got to be really good in all aspects of our play today.”
Bayern Munich v Union Saint Gilloise teams
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Guerreiro, Kim, Tah, Bischof, Kimmich, Pavlovic, Olise, Karl, Diaz, Kane. Substitutes: Ulreich, Urbig, Gnabry, Goretzka, Musiala, Davies, Ito, Kiala, Daiber.
Union Saint Gilloise: Scherpen, Mac Allister, Burgess, Sykes, Khalaili, Van De Perre, Zorgane, Smith, Florucz, Ait El Hadj, David. Substitutes: Leysen, Keita, Chambaere, Barry, Patris, Rasmussen, Schoofs, Fuseini.
Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia)
“What a matchday eight it’s shaping up to be next week,” says Lynsey Hipgrave on TNT. Indeed.
Atalanta v Athletic Bilbao teams
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Kossounou, Djimsiti, Kolasinac, Zappacosta, de Roon, Ederson Silva, Bernasconi, De Ketelaere, Zalewski, Scamacca. Substitutes: Rossi, Sportiello, Hien, Musah, Sulemana, Pasalic, Samardzic, Lookman, Scalvini, Ahanor, Maldini, Krstovic.
Athletic Bilbao: Simon, Lekue, Vivian, Paredes, Boiro, Jauregizar, Rego, Gorosabel, Gomez, Navarro, Guruzeta. Substitutes: Santos, Padilla, Vesga, Sancet, Areso, Ruiz de Galarreta, Serrano, Hierro, Perez, de Luis, Ibon Sanchez, Selton Sanchez.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland)
Newcastle v PSV teams
Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton, Barnes, Wissa, Gordon. Substitutes: Thompson, Ramsdale, Elanga, Willock, Alex Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar, Neave, Miley, Woltemade.
PSV: Kovar, Sildialli, Schouten, Gasiorowski, Saleh-Eddine, Wanner, Junior, Veerman, Man, Til, Perisic. Substitutes: Schiks, Smolenaars, Obispo, Flamingo, Driouech, Bajraktarevic, Fernandez, van den Berg, Verkooijen.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Slavia Prague v Barcelona teams
Slavia Prague: Stanek, Holes, Zima, Chaloupek, Moses, Dorley,
Provod, Sadilek, Sanyang, Chory, Kusej. Substitutes: Markovic, Rezek, Ogbu, Saracevic, Hashioka, Mbodji, Chytil, Boril, Doudera, Schranz, Vlcek, Prekop.
Barcelona: Joan Garcia, Kounde, Eric Garcia, Gerard, Balde, de Jong, Gonzalez, Bardghji, Lopez, Raphinha, Lewandowski. Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Araujo, Rashford, Casado, Olmo, Bernal, Torrents, Hernandez, Marques, Rodriguez, Cubarsi.
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh (England)
Juventus v Benfica teams
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kalulu Kyatengwa, Bremer, Kelly, Cambiaso, Locatelli, Thuram, McKennie, Miretti, Yildiz, David. Substitutes: Perin, Pinsoglio, Gatti, Francisco Conceição, Koopmeiners, Zhegrova, Adzic, Kostic, Openda, Joao Mario, Rouhi, Cabal.
Benfica: Trubin, Dedic, Tomas Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl, Aursnes, Barreiro, Prestianni, Sudakov, Schjelderup, Pavlidis. Substitutes: Ferreira, Antonio Silva, Barrenechea, Bruma, Ivanovic, Manu, Banjaqui, Neto, Oliveira, Rodrigo Rego, Rego, Prioste.
Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands)
Chelsea v Pafos teams
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Fofana, Badiashile, Hato, James, Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho, Delap. Substitutes: Sanchez, Cucurella, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Chalobah, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao, Walsh, Emenalo.
Pafos: Gorter, Sema, Luckassen, Pileas, Bruno, Pepe, Sunjic, Jaja, Orsic, Dragomir, Anderson Silva. Substitutes: Petrou, Neofytos Michael, Luiz, Goldar, Quina, Bassouamina, Dimata, Bruno Langa, Georgios Michael, Caldieraro.
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)
The PSV manager, Peter Bosz, has a chat with TNT Sports. Will they adjust to Newcastle’s “power” game at St James’ Park?
“I think both teams have a different way of playing … the team who’s going to win is the team who performs the best with their way of playing.
“We have a way of playing which is always the same. Away, at home. Of course there is an opponent. It depends on the opponent whether we can do it or not.”
PSV are 16 points clear in the Eredivisie. Does that mean they can start to prioritise the Champions League?
“Not at all. I think every tournament for us is important … we have to perform every game, maximum.”
“Just a heads up that, while I would love it to be true, a win tonight for Newcastle doesn’t put us in the last 16,” writes David. “It puts us in the first round of 16, which is really the last 24 (playoffs), to then get into the actual last 16. Two extra matches just what everyone wants right now …”
Silly me. Thanks David.
David Hytner
Thomas Frank was backed into a corner on every level, including team selection. The Tottenham manager had next-to-no options, only 11 established outfield players for the Champions League home game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
The expectation was for an either/or choice between Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie at left-back. But when the teamsheets dropped, it turned out Frank had picked them both and left Randal Kolo Muani on the bench. It was the latest low point for Kolo Muani, who has to be regretting his decision to join on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Ben Fisher
Below the zigzagging contrails that paint the blue Brussels sky, Christian Burgess is reflecting on the latest chapters of his extraordinary journey, those since joining Royale Union Saint‑Gilloise almost six years ago. At the time he felt that his career was at risk of stagnating, but after rummaging Wikipedia to get a handle on the club and learning of their big ambitions, it felt a leap of faith worth taking.
Even so, there is a detectable disbelief at how that decision led him to the Champions League and an unlikely reunion with Harry Kane, with whom he last duelled as an 18-year-old on trial at Tottenham more than 15 years ago. On Wednesday Union play at Bayern Munich in arguably the biggest match in their history, knowing a positive result would keep alive their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.
Thoughts about any of this stuff? Mail me.
The former Chelsea legend* David Luiz.
*There is of course no such thing as a former legend. Once you’re a legend, you’re a legend.
It’s 1-1 in both the matches that kicked off early: Galatasaray v Atlético Madrid and Qarabag v Frankfurt.
Chelsea are 14th in the table as it stands, and after the expected victory tonight against Pafos and the Stamford Bridge alumnus David Luiz, may also force themselves in the reckoning for a top-eight spot.
Yesterday, Liam Rosenior insisted Enzo Fernández will be at Chelsea for the long haul amid interest from such European heavyweights as Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. Jacob Steinberg has the story:
If Newcastle beat PSV, they will secure a spot in the last 16 playoffs, while maintaining faint hope of finishing in the top eight. Will Eddie Howe be smiling come 10pm-ish?
Preamble
Does it get any bigger than a cold, rainy Champions League league phase night in mid-January? Yes it does, but here we are, and there is plenty on the line for all concerned.
Chelsea v Pafos, Newcastle v PSV and Juventus v Benfica are among the matches on the lineup beyond the Marseille v Liverpool encounter at Stade Vélodrome, which Michael Butler is blogging on Channel 1. There’s also Slavia Prague v Barcelona, Bayern Munich v Union Saint-Gilloise, not to mention Atalanta v Athletic Club. It’s probably raining outside your window, and it might just be raining goals on your telly later, too.
An indeterminate number of footballs will be kicked in various directions by all sorts of players. We’ll bring you all the goals, all the action, all (OK some) of the analysis and probably just shout ‘The Chaaaaaaampions!’ a lot. This is going to be fun and there will be great banter.
Kick-offs at 8pm UK time.
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