Key events
GOAL! Sporting 3-1 Manchester City (Gyökeres 49 pen)
Well then. Twenty seconds after the kick-off from Sporting’s goal, Gvardiol fouls Trincão in the box after pushing him from behind and Gyökeres fires the penalty straight into the bottom right corner. Do City even have the best Scandinavian striker anymore?
GOAL! Sporting 2-1 Manchester City (Araújo 46)
We’re back underway and 20 seconds later Sporting are in front! The hosts pass the ball around and Gonçalves feeds a neat ball to Araújo, whose powerful shot evades Ederson.
Some half-time emails!
I reckon Steve will get some calls from some producers soon for this idea:
So Noel Gallagher’s on co-comms for the game. No doubt Rod The Mod will be doing the Celtic game?
Peter has apparently just learned poker:
Pep Guardiola may boast a Norwegian ace, but Ruben Amorim has got a Gyökeres up his sleeve.
Krishna with the analysis:
It is foolish to write off Real Madrid, more so when you have Carlo at the helm. But have they started to appear less invincible this season. Mbappe’s curse?
They have looked weaker but a part of me wants to say they always do this. They will probably go on and win their 567th CL in May. That being said, they have now trailed in each of their last three European matches – Lille, Dortmund and now Milan.
Paul with the correction:
TNT continually refer to Sporting CP as Sporting Lisbon in their TV coverage. Ask any Sporting fan and they’ll be pretty upset by that – basic error!! You guys are not doing it though!!
Not sure what you mean?? Anyway, I will use half-time to catch up on the latest Edu news coming out of London Arsenal London.
And Robin is uninterested in all of this:
I’ve reached the point of not caring less about any of the results in the Champions League. When we reach the last two rounds, it might have jeopardy for a couple of teams, but it already feels like an awful lot of ties where the results have very little consequence.
Do I have a half-time read for you. Check it out below.
Half-time scores
The half-time whistle has blown across the grounds. Here is where we stand:
GOAL! Celtic 2-1 RB Leipzig (Kühn 45+1)
What a time to get a second goal! Fantastic counterpress from Celtic in the right hand corner is perfect, suffocating the visitors. It’s a perfect ball from Taylor which finds Kühn and he only has one goal in mind. Celtic Park’s roof might just fly off from the noise.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-2 Milan (Morata 39)
Again, no defence in sight for the hosts and the Italian side are happy to capitalise. The striker is quick to react after Leão’s chance and puts his side ahead with a goal into an empty net. He does love a goal against Real Madrid, that you cannot deny.
GOAL! Sporting 1-1 Manchester City (Gyökeres 38)
He’s had a poor opening half but the striker does what he has time and time again – show up in the big moments. Quenda finds Gyökeres with a weighted and he outpaces Simpson-Pusey before equalising.
GOAL! Celtic 1-1 RB Leipzig (Kühn 35)
Beautiful strike from Kühn, who gets the ball far on the right, dribbles inside and is given all the time to hit one as the ball hits the inside of the post before surging in.
GOAL! Lille 1-0 Juventus (David 27)
A fantastic through ball from Zhegrova finds the striker who surges forward and finishes with his right foot at the far post. The assist takes three Juve players out of the game and makes it the goal of the night so far.
GOAL! Celtic 0-1 RB Leipzig (Baumgartner 23)
The hosts have impressed but it all comes undone from a corner. Kampl’s inswinging corner is deflected off a Celtic head before it finds Baumgartner who nods it past Schmeichel before the keeper can even react.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Milan (Vinícius Jr 23 pen)
The Brazilian is brought down in the box by Emerson in what is a clear foul and he dinks a cool penalty down the middle to level it in Madrid.
Bologna 0-0 Monaco: The ball is in the back of the net but it is disallowed after a VAR check after Singo fouls Skorupski.
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Milan (Thiaw 12)
Madrid’s defence is caught sleeping as Thiaw rises above everyone in the box and thumps a header straight past Courtois from a perfect Pulisic corner for his first goal for the club.
Pulisic is having some season so far in Italy – that is now seven goals and four assists in all competitions this season.
Sporting 0-1 Manchester City: Huge chance for the hosts that they fail to capitalise on. City lose the ball and Gyökeres runs onto the pass to counters. He is 1v1 against Ederson but his shot is straight into the keeper’s hands. Why did he not go round him there?!
GOAL! Sporting 0-1 Manchester City (Foden 4)
So sloppy from Morita. He’s easily disposed by Foden and the City midfielder is able to run onwards and strike the opener. Strange from Israel. The goalkeeper thinks his defender will block the shot and he completely mistimes his attempted save.
Welcome to Manchester, Amorim.
Kick-off across the grounds
After a moment of silence for the flood victims in Valencia we are underway across the grounds. Here we go!
Results from the two early kick-offs:
Let’s take a look at some fun stats – one for each of the late games:
-
Erling Haaland needs one goal to reach the landmark figure of 45 goals in the Champions League. He could achieve that tonight on what is only his 43rd appearance in the tournament. The fastest player to 45 goals remains Ruud van Nistelrooy, who reached the milestone on his 56th outing.
-
Kasper Schmeichel celebrates his 38th birthday today, becoming the joint oldest player to feature in a Champions League game on his birthday, joining former Arsenal goalkeeper, David Seaman, who started against Schalke in September 2001.
-
Kylian Mbappé needs just one more goal to join Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Raúl González, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thomas Müller and Thierry Henry as players who have scored 50 times in the Champions League (excluding qualifying).
-
Borussia Dortmund have won their past 10 games in all competitions at their home ground, and are unbeaten in their past 11. But they have lost three of their previous 18 in the Champions League at home.
-
Monaco have won just three of their last 15 European meetings against Italian opposition.
-
This is the first ever meeting between Lille and Juventus in any competition.
Alistair Johnston tells TNT Sports his rallying cry for his Celtic teammates: still be in Europe at the turn of the year.
Celtic Park on a Champions League night. There is nothing like it. I am not even sure if the noise made is humane. It’s impossible to not get shivers up your spine.
Four points after three matches and we have a chance to put ourselves in the drivers seat. There is huge ambition within this group. We do want to be playing in Europe in January. It is a big aim for us this year. It’s not going to be easy but matches like this give you a great opportunity for it.
Our first email of the night comes from Krishna:
Hasn’t anyone told Amorim that the moniker for OT has changed to Theatre of Nightmares? Or doesn’t he follow football? Who in his right mind would walk into the quicksand that is further made unstable by the blue whirlpool circling it relentlessly?
The very best will of course want a challenge and he clearly thinks he can be the guy to turn it around. Many close to him can attest to the fact that he is a young, fresh, manager on the way up, with vision and drive and personality.
But the worry is that it is somehow bigger than Amorim and Erik ten Hag and all the others before him. Is there simply something about the United job that is just too big, too difficult, too chaotic? Let’s see.
Xabi Alonso’s Anfield homecoming is set to be special, as the former Reds midfielder returns with the German champions Bayer Leverkusen. In an alternate universe Alonso could have been the one on home team’s touchline as he was linked once Jürgen Klopp announced his departure. But he doesn’t have time for ifs and maybes.
Let’s talk about the game tomorrow, it’s more interesting than my future. It feels great to be back after a few years. It’s always special. You notice the development of the club, the new stands look pretty amazing. Is a big game against Liverpool in a great moment, it cannot get much better than that.
I am not thinking that much [about how he will be received]. I am thinking more about how to prepare for the game. I might think about my memories when I go for a walk or a run tomorrow. I know the city, I love it and I still have friends here, but I don’t have time for tourism.
Read Andy Hunter’s preview below.
And follow my colleague Rob Smyth’s MBM of the match in Liverpool here.
Brendan Rodgers has called Celtic fans who use fireworks selfish and has reiterated his call for supporters to stop using pyrotechnics, with the Bonfire Night Champions League visit of RB Leipzig raising fears of a Uefa ban.
Supporters’ use of fireworks during last month’s 7-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund led to Celtic being fined by Uefa and told their fans will be banned from attending an away fixture if there is another such incident within two years. The warning was heeded when Celtic drew away to Atalanta two weeks ago, but kick-off was delayed at Saturday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen after yet another Celtic pyro display. Uefa is keeping a close eye on the matter.
It’s just exactly what we said before, it’s not something that we really want to see. There’s that sanction hanging over the club and we really don’t want that.
Read more on Rodgers’ thoughts below.
The two 5.45pm GMT kick-offs are heading into the final 20 minutes and here is how things stand.
PSV lead Girona 2-0 with Ryan Flamingo’s header from a throw-in opening their account before Malik Tillman doubled their lead drilling a powerful, right-footed effort after some fine dribbling skills. A second yellow for Arnau Martínez means a comeback for the Spaniards is unlikely.
Slovan striked early after David Strelec got on the end of a counterattack but the hosts now trail Dinamo 1-3 after goals from Dario Spikic, Petar Sucic and Sandro Kulenovic.
Team news: Borussia Dortmund v Sturm Graz
Team news: Bologna v Monaco
Team news: Lille v Juventus
Team news: Real Madrid v Milan
Team news: Sporting v Manchester City
Your City line-up in Lisbon! 🩵
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo (C), Savinho, Foden, Nunes, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Wright, O’Reilly, McAtee, Wilson-Esbrand#ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/vuuzxNkMe3
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 5, 2024
Team news: Celtic v RB Leipzig
Here is a sneak peak of David Squires’s latest cartoon on Manchester United’s hive mind choosing Rúben Amorim.
Check out the full cartoon below.
The current Champions League table as it stands. Aston Villa top with nine points from three games, naturally.
A reminder as to how the new rules of the competition work. At the end of the league phase, the top eight teams will advance to the round of 16. Teams 9-16 will advance to knockout phase playoffs (seeded) and teams 17-24 will advance to knockout phase playoffs (unseeded). The bottom 12 will be eliminated from Europa and will none will drop to the Europa League (unlike previous seasons).
Preamble
Any hopes Rúben Amorim might have had for a peaceful send-off from Sporting have well and truly disappeared. The Manchester United-bound manager got his first taste of the British press when he was hounded for not answering a question in English (though he handling the scrutiny with a calmness).
Tonight, he faces Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in what could be seen as his unofficial audition for the United faithful. A win against their arch-rivals who have dominated in recent years would make Amorim an instant favorite at Old Trafford, though he’s careful not to let expectations get too high.
And if he loses? Some will surely overreact, but the reality is that a Sporting win over the English champions would be a genuine upset. For now, tonight’s clash in Lisbon offers many fans their first real look at Amorim’s style of play and a chance to imagine how it might translate to the Premier League.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid will hope to bounce back from a disastrous and humbling el classico and embarrassing and ill-advised Ballon d’Or boycott against an inconsistent Milan side; Brendan Rodgers aims to bolster Celtic’s European form against RB Leipzig, still winless in Europe this season; Bologna will need a win against Monaco if they want to make the next round; the Austrian champions Sturm have the tough task of silencing the Yellow Wall at Dortmund; and Lille are somehow favourites against Juventus after strong showings against Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
It is shaping up to be an exciting one so join me for our Champions League matchday four liveblog. Kick-offs across Europe at 8pm GMT.
And, as always, if you have any thoughts, questions, complaints or predictions that you’re keen to share then feel free to send me an email.
