Key events
Atleti have beaten Feyenoord 3-2; they top Group E with four points while Feyenoord have three. Lazio and Celtic have one and none respectively.
Just the five goals for Haaland last time City played Leipzig.
Email! “Aside from Erling Haaland looking like he could play a particularly dangerous Targaryen in House of The Dragon,” says Nick Smith, “I can’t be the only one to think Paddy Considine could play Scott Carson in the inevitable movie of his life? Anyone? I’ll get my cardigan…”
I’d love to see his interpretation of the Bursaspor period.
Eddie Howe has picked the team you expect him to. I guess Jacob Murphy might be disappointed to miss out, but Miguel Almiron has been in good nick recently, so. Paris, meanwhile, are playing a 4-4-2 – I think – with Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe flanking Manuel Ugarte and Warren Zaire-Emery in midfield, behind Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani. It might, though, also be a 4-4-2 diamond – we shall see.
In Antwerp, Shakhtar now lead 3-2; Atleti sare still 3-2 in front at home to Feyenoord.
Leipzig, meanwhile, will play 4-2-2-2, one of my least favourite formations. But they’ve been playing it pretty well so far this season, and Emil Forsberg is a player who might give City trouble.
We’ll stick with City to look who starts for them and, at the back, Josko Gvardiol replaces Nathan Ake. In midfield, it’s Rico Lewis and Rodri, not Matteo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes while, behind Haaland, Grealish and Bernardo replace Alvarez and Doku. City appear to have some strength in depth.
So yes, this – but with CARSON 33 on the back.
OH MY COMPLETE AND UTTER DAYS! The Man City players have turned up in cardigans and – as if that wasn’t enough – they’ve got their names and numbers on the back!
Group H
Porto v Barcelona
Group G
RB Leipzig v Manchester City
Your team to face RB Leipzig! 💪
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Stones, Ake, Kovacic, Doku, Alvarez, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb#ManCity pic.twitter.com/5JqW8VSOqA
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 4, 2023
Crvena zvezdza v Young Boys
Group F
Borussia Dortmund v AC Milan
Newcastle United v Paris Saint-Germain
Group E
Celtic v Lazio
Otherwise, let’s do some teams; on TNT, Eddie Howe is talking about how happy he is, and how when Newcastle lost to Cambridge, the Champions League seemed a long way away. I don’t know, maybe them getting there for this season was slightly surprising, but also, it was inevitable they’d get there at some point.
Goal-machine Alvaro Morata and what words those are to type, has put Atleti 3-2 up on Feyenoord.
Preamble
Evening all, and welcome to another evening of Champions League football Champions League Football! I never thought I’d say this, but we’ll miss these group stages when they’re gone and tonight’s fixtures are part of the reason why.
I will, of course, be providing updates on Newcastle v PSG – a game you can follow in MBM form here – but there’s a surfeit of other behaviour to enjoy, so let’s get on with that, beginning with the other fixture in that group, Borussia Dortmund v AC Milan. The German unchampions competed well enough losing in Paris the other week, though looked worryingly impotent, while Milan will still be smarting they failed to beat the Geordies; in what looks like being a tight group, home wins are essential.
In Group E, Lazio – who drew 1-1 at home to Atlético in “gameweek 1” visit Parkhead with Celtic, beaten 2-0 in Rotterdam, in desperate need a result. Meantime, Atléti and Feyernoord are 2-2 with 50 or so minutes gone.
Group G serves us winners v winners and losers v losers, holders Manchester City travelling to face Leipzig with Crvena zvezda taking on Young Boys, while in Group H, two more victors from the first round of games meet with Porto entertaining Barcelona; the meeting between the losers sees Antwerp leading Shakhtar 2-1.
As Burna Boy sings, it’s plenty. It’s just a shame Uefa – and the clubs – aren’t listening.
Kick-offs: 8pm BST
