The match reports are in, so it’s time to wrap up this Clockwatch. Thanks for reading.
Updated
Liverpool have now lost three consecutive matches by a margin of three or more goals for the first time since their last relegation season of 1953-54. That’s when they were cashiered from the old First Division thanks in no small part to sequences like this from December ‘53 …
Portsmouth 5-1 Liverpool
Manchester United 5-1 Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion 5-2 Liverpool
… and that final result was on Christmas Day as well. Eagle-eyed readers will note that all three of those matches were away from home, while two of the current sorry sequence have been at Anfield. An awful lot for Arne Slot to think about here.
Thomas Frank has a word with TNT as well, and while he’s not particularly happy either, he doesn’t look as shell-shocked as Arne Slot. “Today we competed … that I’m pleased with … we showed soul and character and I liked that very much.”
Arne Slot speaks to TNT Sports. “Every time it is the same question … the emotions are very negative and disappointing … the way we conceded 1-0 … I want to be positive about the reaction of the players to going 1-0 down … until half-time we played a very good game … after another disappointment we had enough chances to go 2-1 up … at half-time I don’t think anyone would have expected us to lose this game 4-1 … I think [Virgil van Dijk] got a little push … that’s why he raised his arm … I don’t think the VAR will ever overturn for a small push like that … after half-time we conceded quite early … we still had a few good chances to make it 2-2 … but 10, 15 minutes before the end we conceded another goal … it is hard to take … after we conceded the first one, we saw the reaction I want to see, and it’s not easy because we had a big loss at the weekend … it’s another big loss.”
So what now? “The only way to go is to go through now … face where we are in … fight really hard … it would be nice if we don’t every time get this knock of a goal we concede … it’s hard.”
Post-match postbag. “Regardless of how poorly this newly assembled Liverpool offense is performing, it’s the defense that is an absolute shambles. As much as I hate to admit it, Wayne Rooney is more right than wrong. Van Dijk’s body language, performance, and frankly whiney behaviour is pretty bad. Konate appears not to know where he is half the time. And Kerkez... well, I’ve already bad-mouthed him today. If January doesn’t bring defensive reinforcements, this will be a completely lost season, and maybe Slot’s last” – Joe Pearson
“That Vitinha sure is brilliant. If I had him in the national side I’m managing, I definitely would build the entire team around a 40 year old has been” – Kári Tulinius
The cream is rising to the top of the Champions League table. Arsenal, almost unstoppable at the moment, are now the only team left with a 100-percent record, though the champions PSG are now on their tail. Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Sporting, Atalanta and Atletico Madrid are also on the rise. It’s not been such a good week for Spurs, Manchester City or Newcastle, while the latest Liverpool fiasco threatens to plunge Arne Slot and his team into a full-blown crisis. Or are they in one already? Nine losses in 12!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 5 | 13 | 15 |
| 2 | PSG | 5 | 11 | 12 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 4 | Inter Milan | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 5 | Real Madrid | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 6 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Chelsea | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 8 | Sporting | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 9 | Man City | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 10 | Atalanta | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 12 | Atletico Madrid | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 13 | Liverpool | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 | Galatasaray | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 15 | PSV | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 17 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| 18 | Barcelona | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 19 | Qarabag FK | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 20 | Napoli | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 21 | Marseille | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 22 | Juventus | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 23 | Monaco | 5 | -2 | 6 |
| 24 | AE Pafos | 5 | -3 | 6 |
| 25 | Union Saint Gilloise | 5 | -7 | 6 |
| 26 | Club Brugge | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 27 | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 28 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 5 | -7 | 4 |
| 29 | Copenhagen | 5 | -7 | 4 |
| 30 | Benfica | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 31 | Slavia Prague | 5 | -6 | 3 |
| 32 | Bodo/Glimt | 5 | -4 | 2 |
| 33 | Olympiacos | 5 | -8 | 2 |
| 34 | Villarreal | 5 | -8 | 1 |
| 35 | FC Kairat | 5 | -10 | 1 |
| 36 | Ajax | 5 | -15 | 0 |
The full-time scores
Just the 33 goals in the evening kick-offs, and 42 overall today.
Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Internazionale
Copenhagen 3-2 Kairat
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Atalanta
Liverpool 1-4 PSV
Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid
Pafos 2-2 Monaco
PSG 5-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting 3-0 Club Brugge
FULL TIME: PSG 5-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Thomas Frank can take some good and some bad from this one. Spurs gave it a good go, but their defence creaked a bit too loudly, and Vitinha was just too good.
FULL TIME: Olympiacos 3-4 Kylian Mbappé Real Madrid. Real Madrid hang on for their first vicgtory in Piraeus at the fifth time of asking. Mbappé their four-goal hero!
FULL TIME: Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich
Arsenal are the only team left standing with a 100-percent record. Michael Butler has the story for you.
GOAL! Atletico Madrid 2-1 Internazionale (Gimenez 90+3). Atleti grab all three points at the very end! Their captain Jose Maria Gimenez meets a corner coming in from the left. He rises miles into the air, and plants a downward header into the bottom right.
Updated
RED CARD: Lucas Hernández (PSG)
Lucas Hernández swings an elbow into the face of Xavi Simons, and he’s got to walk.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 1-4 PSV
Arne Slot looks stunned. Arne Slot looks lost. This is now a full-blown crisis, if it wasn’t already, and it doesn’t appear Liverpool’s title-winning manager has any answers. He wears a proper thousand-yard stare, and a few boos from the Anfield crowd. The patience of some punters wearing thin … but others in the crowd break into supportive song. There will be debate, because this is an astonishing collapse.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-4 PSV (Driouech 90+1)
Liverpool attack. Liverpool lose the ball. PSV counter at speed. A ball pulled back from the right byline. Couhaib Driouech arrives on the penalty spot, opens his body, and whistles a low pass into the bottom-right corner. What a performance by PSV! The same statement also applies for Liverpool, but in a vastly different way.
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Liverpool 1-3 PSV. The fan favourite Federico Chiesa is on. He skedaddles down the inside-left channel and aims for the bottom left. Deflected. The resulting corner is headed harmlessly wide by Virgil van Dijk. Quite a few fans heading out of Anfield.
GOAL! Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid (El Kaabi 81). A cross comes in from the left. Ayoub El Kaabi eyebrows a header across Andriy Lunin and into the right-hand portion of the net. Given Real’s dismal record at this ground – no wins in four – it’ll be a nervy final few minutes for Xabi Alonso’s side.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich (Martinelli 77)
Manuel Neuer comes out to meet a long ball down the middle. Bad choice! Gabriel Martinelli rounds him, and this is some statement by Arsenal. Michael Butler has it all!
GOAL! PSG 5-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Vitinha 76 pen)
Vitinha shoots from the edge of the box. Cristian Romero, falling backwards, sticks his arm in the air and the ball pings off it. The referee points straight to the spot. Vitinha takes, dispatching into the bottom right to complete his hat-trick. Say what you like about Spurs, but are you not entertained?
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GOAL! Sporting 3-0 Brugge (Trincao 70). Game over in Lisbon, as Francisco Trincao meets a low left-wing cutback, sweeping into the bottom-right corner from 12 yards.
GOAL! PSG 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Kolo Muani 72)
Randal Kolo Muani bursts through two weak challenges down the inside-right channel, and unleashes a low drive across Lucas Chevalier and into the bottom left! Spurs not out of this yet! Fair to say the attacks have been very much on top in Paris.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-3 PSV (Driouech 73)
Ibrahima Konaté misjudges a bouncing ball down the PSV left. Ricardo Pepi races off with it. He enters the box and shoots, hitting the base of the left-hand post. Couhaib Driouech is first to the rebound, and bobbles a shot across Giorgi Mamardashvili and into the bottom-right corner. Liverpool have now conceded three goals in each of their last three games. And this one’s not over yet.
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GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Bayern Munich (Madueke 70)
Arsenal are back in front, and it’s a lovely cross from the left by Riccardo Calafiori, who tees up Noni Madueke. Michael Butler has the details.
GOAL! PSG 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Pacho 65)
The Tottenham defence is falling apart like wet cake. A corner comes in from the left. Pape Sarr misses his clearing kick, teeing up Willian Pacho, who sweeps into the bottom right. That’s two defensive calamities in six minutes.
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Liverpool 1-2 PSV. Alexander Isak has come on for Hugo Ekitike, who picked up an as-yet-unspecified injury. It never rains, etc.
GOAL! Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Atalanta (De Ketelaere 65). It’s three goals in just over five minutes for Atalanta, as Gianluca Scamacca smashes a shot off the crossbar, Charles De Ketelaere following up by converting the rebound.
GOAL! PSG 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Fabián Ruiz 59)
Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr get themselves into an awful mess playing out from the back. Fabián Ruiz nips in to snaffle possession and slot into the bottom left. PSG complete the turnaround as Spurs self-destruct.
Updated
GOAL! Olympiacos 2-4 Real Madrid (Mbappe 60). That’s four for Kylian Mbappé, set up by Vinícius Júnior’s delightful dribble down the left.
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GOAL! Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Atalanta (Lookman 62). Ademola Lookman turns provider, rolling a defence-splitting diagonal pass in from the left for Éderson, who flicks into the bottom right. There was 93 seconds between the two goals!
GOAL! Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Atalanta (Lookman 60). A ball comes curling in from the right, and Ademola Lookman isn’t missing that from ten yards. He opens his body and slams into the bottom left!
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GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-1 Internazonale (Zielinski 54). Piotr Zielinski jinks in from the left and slots into the bottom right. Such a crisp finish, and that equaliser had been coming.
GOAL! PSG 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Vitinha 53)
… and also to be filed under It’s Happening Again: another screamer of an equaliser from Vitinha! He dances in from the right, enters the box, and curls powerfully into the left-hand side of the net!
GOAL! Liverpool 1-2 PSV (Til 56)
Liverpool had started the second half quickly … but then PSV came back at them, pinning the hosts back. And now they’ve got their reward! Mauro Júnior, dropping deep, sends a cute diagonal in from the left to release Guus Til, who steers into the bottom right! Anfield falls quiet. It’s happening again!
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GOAL! Olympiacos 2-3 Real Madrid (Taremi 52). Mehdi Taremi’s header reduces Olympiacos’s arrears … and here’s a reminder that Real don’t have the best record in Greece. It couldn’t be happening again, could it?
GOAL! PSG 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Kolo Muani 50)
A Spurs corner comes in from the left. Richarlison wins a header at the far stick. Archie Gray hooks it goalwards from close range, but Willian Pacho clears off the line. No matter, though, because PSG loanee Randal Kolo Muani is on hand to absolutely lash home from eight yards. Spurs retake the lead! PSG stunned!
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Atlético Madrid 1-0 Internazionale. Seconds into the second half, Nicolò Barella nearly equalises for last season’s runners-up. He’s pinged into space down the inside-right channel, taking the ball down and looping a delicious shot over Juan Musso, towards the top-left corner, and off the bar.
Liverpool 1-1 PSV. Liverpool, shooting towards the Kop in this second half, as is their wont, are on the front foot early doors. Dominik Szoboszlai aims a long-distance rake towards the bottom right, but it’s easy for Matěj Kovář.
The games are restarting all over the continent. Here we go again.
Half-time entertainment. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
The half-time scores
Arsenal 1-1 Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Internazionale
Copenhagen 3-2 Kairat (FT)
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-0 Atalanta
Liverpool 1-1 PSV
Olympiacos 1-3 Real Madrid
Pafos 2-2 Monaco (FT)
PSG 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting 2-0 Club Brugge
Updated
GOAL! PSG 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Vitinha 45)
Vitinha equalises for the champions with an absolute pearler. The ball rolled across the edge of the box, left to right. He shuffles his feet to meet it first time, and arrows a rising bullet tight into the right-hand corner. A sickener for Spurs, who had executed their first-half gameplan so well, but there’s no stopping that.
Updated
Olympiacos 1-3 Real Madrid. Aurélien Tchouaméni pings a 25-yard shot off the junction of crossbar and right-hand post. Real have responded so impressively to falling behind. Incidentally, Kylian Mbappé completed his hat-trick in six minutes and 42 seconds, the second-fastest in Champions League history behind this six-minutes-and-12-seconds Mohamed Salah effort.
Liverpool 1-1 PSV. It’s turned into a basketball game at Anfield. Neither team capable of any sort of control whatsoever. Whither Slotball?
GOAL! PSG 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Richarlison 35)
This is a lovely goal from Spurs. Lucas Bergvall’s cute flick down the left sends Archie Gray into space. Gray crosses long. Randal Kolo Muani, on loan from PSG, rises at the far stick and heads back across goal for Richarlison, who can’t miss from a couple of yards. He couldn’t miss from 45 on Sunday either, to be fair. Lovely team goal!
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Liverpool 1-1 PSV. … and to further illustrate that, Hugo Ekitiké prods with power towards the bottom right from a tight spot on the edge of the box. Matěj Kovář does well to get down and parry.
Liverpool 1-1 PSV. Virgil van Dijk nearly makes up for his earlier error by looping a header onto the crossbar. The hosts on top at Anfield now.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Bayern Munich (Karl 32)
Lennart Karl, 17, equalises for the German champions. Teenage sensations everywhere you look. Michael Butler has the details.
GOAL! Sporting 2-0 Brugge (Suárez 31). Geny Catamo spins in the midfield and sends Luis Suárez clear down the middle with a lovely reverse pass. Suárez – the man who replaced Viktor Gyökeres – makes no mistake to double Sporting’s lead.
GOAL! Olympiacos 1-3 Real Madrid (Mbappe 29). Eduardo Camavinga releases Kylian Mbappé down the inside left. He enters the box, opens his body, sends a shot across Kostas Tzolakis and into the bottom right. That hat-trick took him six-and-a-half minutes.
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GOAL! Sporting 1-0 Brugge (Quenda 24). Geovany Quenda, who will join Chelsea next season, sweeps home to open the scoring in Lisbon. Chelsea can spot a teenage winger all right.
PSG 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs continue to hold their own in Paris. The champions struggling to create anything of note.
GOAL! Olympiacos 1-2 Real Madrid (Mbappe 24). Trent Alexander-Arnold flicks a pass down the right for Arda Güler, who crosses high. Kylian Mbappé rises and plants a header into the top left. That’s seven goals in four-and-a-quarter matches for Mbappé, and quite the two-minute turnaround.
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GOAL! Olympiacos 1-1 Real Madrid (Mbappe 22). It’s not taken that long for Real to get back into it in Piraeus. Vinícius Júnior splits the home defence with a pass down the inside-left channel, releasing Kylian Mbappé, who advances on the box before slamming into the bottom left. And then …
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Bayern Munich (Timber 22)
BREAKING NEWS: it’s a set piece. Michael Butler has the details.
Liverpool 1-1 PSV. It’s all happening at Anfield. Now Hugo Ekitiké enters the box down the right and nudges the ball away from Anass Salah-Eddine, who misses the ball and clanks into his man. Ekitiké goes over and claims the penalty, but neither referee nor VAR shows any interest. That’s a very strange decision, as the PSV defender definitely made contact. But who knows anything any more?
Liverpool 1-1 PSV. Virgil van Dijk’s nightmare start continues as he slides in late on Ismael Saibari, who was making good down the right. Yellow card. From the resulting free kick, swung into the six-yard box, Saibari flicks a shot straight at Giorgi Mamardashvili, and the rebound is slotted by Yarek Gasiorowski. But Saibari was offside, and the goal is chalked off. Liverpool’s defence is a rabble, and their captain’s brain is swimming.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 PSV (Szoboszlai 16)
Cody Gakpo dribbles hard down the left and aims for the bottom-right corner. Matěj Kovář does well to parry, but can only push the ball out to Dominik Szoboszlai, who slams home from 12 yards. The perfect response to a(nother) crisis.
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Sporting 0-0 Brugge. Morten Hjulmand is sent off for high-kicking an opponent in the head … but then the decision is overturned by the referee after he checks the screen. Hjulmand is judged to have done enough in attempting to pull his boot away.
GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-0 Internazionale (Alvarez 9). Giuliano Simeone crosses from the right. Álex Baena meets it at the far post. The ball rears up and pings off his body, into the path of Julián Alvarez, who sweeps home. The goal’s initially ruled out for handball by Baena, but once the referee checks the VAR screen, he changes his mind. Chest. Goal!
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GOAL! Olympiacos 1-0 Real Madrid (Chiquinho 8). Olympiacos one-two their way down the inside-left channel, then Francisco Chiquinho lashes a glorious low drive into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box. Real had been on top during the early moments, too. More problems for the (preposterously) under-pressure Xabi Alonso.
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PSG 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are giving as good as they’re getting in these early exchanges at the Parc des Princes. In these bright yellow shirts, they’re doing the legend of Glenn Hoddle, Garth Crooks, Steve Archibald et al proud. So far.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 PSV (Perisic 6 pen)
Ivan Perisic steps up, gives Giorgi Mamardashvili the eyes, and slots confidently into the bottom right. What a clinical spot kick. What utter nonsense from Virgil van Dijk. Arne Slot has a face on, and no wonder: these days, when Liverpool go behind, Liverpool lose.
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Liverpool 0-0 PSV. The Dutch champions are on the front foot immediately. One corner leads to another, then Virgil van Dick sticks his arm up in the penalty area – real ask-me-miss shapes – and the referee points to the spot! What on earth was the Liverpool captain doing?! He claims Jerdy Schouten shoved him from behind in mid-air, but he can have no complaints. Dearie me!
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PSG 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur. Both teams are in a change kit tonight. PSG wear fourth-choice black, while Tottenham are sporting a yellow kit with old-school crest. Real 1982 FA Cup final vibes. It’s a beauty, they really need to get that badge back.
Here we go, then. It’s all happening.
All across the continent, teams line up to hear Zadok the Priest get his usual Uefa-sanctioned kicking. Poor Zadok’s a-cold! All of which is a roundabout way to say that we’ll be off in a minute. Big night coming up.
TNT have a quick word with Thomas Frank before kick-off. “There is one game in front of us, that’s PSG … if you look too much in the past you forget to look forward and do everything you can to perform now … that is all about performing tonight … make sure we compete … are brave … we are playing against a very mobile team … we have to match that … be aggressive … we need mobile, front-footed midfielders … a big night for us … we need to put a fight in.”
Pre-match postbag. “Much as I want English clubs to do well in the Champions League (even including Chelsea, but obviously not Man Utd were they ever to qualify again), Fulham are not in a secure enough position for me to pass up the opportunity of Spurs being clobbered tonight, so as to leave them wounded for Saturday’s big one. (And can I make an early bid for the longest sentence of the evening?). So come on PSG, turn it on for the lads” – Richard Hirst
“As a Spurs fan, is it better to watch a low-confidence Spurs take on the European Champions or to seek joy in watching Harry Kane and Bayern spank Arsenal with a narrative-breaking 3-0 victory? Erm, asking for a friend” – Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo
“To use a North Americanism, if I had my druthers, I would prefer Robertson to Kerkez. Van Dijk seems to have an innate sense where Robertson will be, but has no idea with Kerkez. Let’s be honest; sometimes signings don’t work out” – Joe Pearson
FULL TIME: Copenhagen 3-2 Kairat; Pafos 2-2 Monaco
Both of the 5.45pm kick-offs have just finished. Copenhagen were three goals up with nine minutes to go at home against Kairat, and survived a spirited late comeback to secure their first three-point haul of their campaign. Meanwhile Monaco defender Mohammed Salisu’s late own goal gave Pafos a 2-2 draw in Limassol, and the Cypriot underdogs are currently in the play-off positions. Here’s how the Champions League now looks as we go into this evening’s matches.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 3 | Inter Milan | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | Man City | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | PSG | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 9 | Real Madrid | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 10 | Liverpool | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Galatasaray | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 13 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| 14 | Sporting | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 15 | Barcelona | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 16 | Qarabag FK | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 17 | Atalanta | 4 | -2 | 7 |
| 18 | Napoli | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 19 | Marseille | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | Atletico Madrid | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 21 | Juventus | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 22 | Monaco | 5 | -2 | 6 |
| 23 | AE Pafos | 5 | -3 | 6 |
| 24 | Union Saint Gilloise | 5 | -7 | 6 |
| 25 | PSV | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 26 | Club Brugge | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 27 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 4 | -4 | 4 |
| 28 | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 29 | Copenhagen | 5 | -7 | 4 |
| 30 | Benfica | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 31 | Slavia Prague | 5 | -6 | 3 |
| 32 | Bodo/Glimt | 5 | -4 | 2 |
| 33 | Olympiacos | 4 | -7 | 2 |
| 34 | Villarreal | 5 | -8 | 1 |
| 35 | FC Kairat | 5 | -10 | 1 |
| 36 | Ajax | 5 | -15 | 0 |
Arne Slot talks to TNT Sports. “You reflect and look forward [after the Forest match] … the reflection was about a few moments … we had 75 percent ball possession … but the few moments we had to defend, we did not defend in the same manner as Forest did … if the other team throws themselves in front of a ball and blocks every cross and shot then it’s far from sure you win … football-wise I cannot blame [the players] so much … but the few moments we have to defend better … I had to say something [after the Forest defeat] but I wasn’t the only one very annoyed.”
Slot meanwhile confirms that Alisson is ill, while Curtis Jones will start at right-back, with Dominik Szoboszlai moving back into midfield. “Both can play in that position, as Joe Gomez can, but he’s been struggling a bit with a knee injury.” As for Alexander Isak dropping to the bench: “Alex in the last four weeks played 30 minutes and then with us he played 70 minutes in a game that wasn’t so intense because we dominated ball possession, but it wasn’t easy for him to manage himself through that 70 minutes. If you have another No9 who is also very good, it makes sense to play the other one and that’s Hugo [Ekitike] tonight.”
“All of those big-name team-sheets and no mention of the evening’s top fixture, the battle between first versus second, Arsenal v Bayern Munich???!” we hear you ask. Now, would we ever disappoint you? Well, OK, but in this instance, Michael Butler has all the details over on our bespoke MBM. Make sure you come back for some Clockwatch action, won’t you.
Other team news
Atletico Madrid: Musso, Molina, Gimenez, Hancko, Ruggeri, Simeone, Barrios, Johnny, Gallagher, Alvarez, Baena.
Subs: Gonzalez, Raspadori, Galan, Pubill, Lenglet, Martin, Almada, Sorloth, Griezmann, Koke, Esquivel, de Luis.
Internazionale: Sommer, Akanji, Bisseck, Bastoni, Carlos Augusto, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco, Lautaro Martinez, Bonny.
Subs: Josep Martinez, Taho, de Vrij, Sucic, Thuram, Luis Henrique, Acerbi, Frattesi, Diouf, Cocchi, Alexiou, Esposito.
Eintracht Frankfurt: Zetterer, Collins, Koch, Theate, Brown, Dahoud, Chaibi, Doan, Gotze, Knauff, Burkardt.
Subs: Grahl, Santos, Amenda, Hojlund, Kristensen, Skhiri, Wahi, Bahoya, Chandler, Buta, Batshuayi, Dills.
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Kossounou, Hien, Djimsiti, Bellanova, de Roon, Ederson Silva, Zappacosta, De Ketelaere, Lookman, Scamacca.
Subs: Sportiello, Musah, Sulemana, Pasalic, Samardzic, Kolasinac, Brescianini, Bernasconi, Zalewski, Ahanor, Maldini, Krstovic.
Olympiacos: Tzolakis, Rodinei, Retsos, Pirola, Ortega, Mouzakitis, Dani Garcia, Gelson Martins, Chiquinho, Daniel Podence, El Kaabi.
Subs: Botis, Biancone, Kalogeropoulos, Nascimento, Yaremchuk, Scipioni, Costinha, Strefezza, Hezze, Onyemaechi, Pnevmonidis, Taremi.
Real Madrid: Lunin, Asencio, Tchouameni, Carreras, Alexander-Arnold, Guler, Valverde, Camavinga, Mendy, Vinicius Junior, Mbappe.
Subs: Gonzalez, Navarro, Bellingham, Endrick, Rodrygo, Gonzalo Garcia, Ceballos, Francisco Garcia, Diaz.
Sporting: Rui Silva, Fresneda, Diomande, Inacio, Araujo, Hjulmand, Simoes, Catamo, Trincao, Quenda, Suarez.
Subs: Virginia, Matheus Reis, Morita, Vagiannidis, Kochorashvili, Alisson Santos, Ribeiro, Ramos, Flavio Goncalves, Blopa, Quaresma, Ricardo Mangas.
Club Brugge: Jackers, Siquet, Ordonez, Mechele, Seys, Stankovic, Nwadike, Forbs, Vanaken, Tzolis, Vermant.
Subs: van den Heuvel, Mignolet, Romero, Tresoldi, Vetlesen, Sandra, Nilsson, Osuji, Spileers, Diakhon, Gomez van Hoogen, Campbell.
PSG v Tottenham Hotspur news
PSG: Chevalier, Zaire Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Neves, Vitinha, Fabian, Barcola, Ndjantou, Kvaratskhelia.
Subs: Safonov, Lucas Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Goncalo Ramos, Dembele, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Mbaye, James.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Gray, Romero, van de Ven, Spence, Sarr, Bergvall, Bentancur, Richarlison, Muani.
Subs: Kinsky, Austin, Danso, Joao Palhinha, Simons, Udogie, Kudus, Odobert, Davies, Scarlett, Thompson, Williams-Barnet.
Tottenham Hotspur make five changes after their 4-1 no-show at Arsenal. Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr and Randal Kolo Muani step up; Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert and João Palhinha drop to the bench. The on-loan Kolo Muani is starting against his parent club.
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Liverpool v PSV team news
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Szoboszlai, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Ekitike, Gakpo.
Subs: Woodman, Misciur, Gomez, Endo, Isak, Chiesa, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
PSV: Kovar, Dest, Schouten, Gasiorowski, Saleh-Eddine, Man, Junior, Veerman, Perisic, Saibari, Til.
Subs: Olij, Smolenaars, Obispo, Flamingo, Pepi, Wanner, Driouech, Bajraktarevic, Boadu, Sildialli, Fernandez, Nagalo.
Liverpool make two changes to their starting XI in the wake of the embarrassing 3-0 home reverse to Nottingham Forest. Alisson, who returned to the team last Saturday after a period out injured, is missing again, so Giorgi Mamardashvili takes his place. Up front, Hugo Ekitike is preferred to Alexander Isak, who drops to the bench.
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Preamble
Good evening and welcome to another evening of living high on the Champions League hog. We have nine games for you, all of which kick off at 8pm GMT unless stated. We’ll concentrate on the bleeding obvious but keep an eye on the cognoscenti’s choice as well. It’s on!
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v Internazionale
Copenhagen v Kairat (5.45pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Atalanta
Liverpool v PSV
Olympiacos v Real Madrid
Pafos v Monaco (5.45pm)
PSG v Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting v Club Brugge
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