Newcastle vs Benfica, Villarreal vs Manchester City and more: Champions League – live | Champions League
Key events
Newcastle 0-0 Benfica: Howe and Mourinho share a quick hug before kick-off. The latter has won one in his last seven games on Tyneside and he knows how difficult it will be.
Kickoffs
Here we go! A reminder of the games to follow:
Newcastle 0-0 Benfica
Villarreal 0-0 Manchester City
Arsenal 0-0 Atletico Madrid
PSV 0-0 Napoli
Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Paris Saint-Germain
Union Saint-Gilloise 0-0 Inter
Copenhagen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund
We are less than 15 minutes away from 8pm BST kick-offs. You can follow Arsenal’s match against Atlético Madrid with Scott Murray below.
Full time in the first games:
Barcelona 6-1 Olympiacos
Kairat Almaty 0-0 Paphos
Barcelona secure their second victory of the league stage while Kairat secures their first ever Champions League point.
Two minutes after Rashford’s first goalLópez, the hero of the hat-trick as Barcelona now leads 5-1. It was all about 19-year-old Roony Bardghji’s assist – left-footed magic.
And as I type the above, Barcelona lead 6-1, a cool finish from Rashford after cutting inside. A huge result for Hansi Flick’s team ahead of the Clasico this weekend.
Barcelona currently lead 4-1 at home against Olympiacos. The opener came in the seventh minute after Kostas Tzolakis tapped the ball onto the quick feet of Lamine Yamal. The ball then fell to Fermín López, who touched the ball before shooting from close range.
López also scored the hosts’ second goal after Pedri latched onto a loose pass and handed it to the 22-year-old. Great play from Marcus Rashford too, who managed to push some defenders away to create space for the scorer.
The visitors then had a goal disallowed for offside, but in the build-up García stuck out his arm and conceded a penalty in the process. From there, Ayoub El Kaabi’s left-footed strike was enough to beat Wojciech Szczęsny. A few minutes later, Santiago Hezze was sent off after a second yellow.
Rashford then won a penalty from the hosts which Lamine Yamal converted before scoring himself to make it 4-1.
The other start remained goalless but Pafos’ João Correia was sent off in the fourth minute after a dangerous challenge on Luís Mata, kicking the Kairat Almaty player in the face.
Pep Guardiola called Rayan Cherki a “street player” and hailed the 22-year-old Frenchman as one of the most talented players he had ever seen. Great words from the man who trained Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández.
“Technically and individually he is at the top. The question is how he settles in and what we are going to do, how he reads the game and every action the game needs. He started at [Club] World Cup, but then there was a little rest. [We have to go] step by step, but the talent he has: I have the feeling that most of the time, when the ball comes to him, the situation improves.
More from Sid Lowe below on Guardiola’s thoughts, including City’s improving form and Nico González, who is set to start at Villarreal.
Newcastle is a special place for José Mourinho. In 1999, Bobby Robson wanted the Portuguese to join him at Newcastle as an assistant coach with a view to eventually rising to the top job, but Mourinho refused.
Today’s game will be Mourinho’s 13th appearance on Tyneside as manager, but previous trips to Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham have produced just three wins.
“I’m a little Magpie,” he told interviewers in Portugal last month. “The club up there knows how much love and respect I have for them. I learned that from Mr Robson.”
Read Louise Taylor below on how Mourinho thinks Benfica benefits from a new version of himself and Eddie Howe’s thoughts on his opponent.
Team News: Villarreal vs Manchester City
Villarreal (4-4-2): Luiz Junior; Mouriño, Foyth, Veica, pedraza; gueye, party, comeaña, buchann; Here, mykautadze
Submarines: Conde, Tenas, Altimira, Marín, Solomon, Moreno, Parejo, Akhomach, Moleiro, Oluwaseyi, Pérez, Cardona.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Donnarum; Nine, stones, matrices, garden; Gonzalez, Lewis, Silva; Savinho, Doku, Haaland
Submarines: Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Aké, Marmoush, Kovacic, Cherki, Aït-Nouri, O’Reilly, Foden, Bobb
Arbitrator: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands)
Team News: Newcastle vs Benfica
Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Miley, Ramsey, Guimarães; Gordon, Woltemade, J Murphy
Submarines: Thompson, Ramsdale, Schär, Joelinton, Tonali, Barnes, Krafth, Osula, Elanga, Willock, A Murphy
Benfica (4-3-3): Trubin; Dedic, A Silva, Otamendi, T Araújo; Barrenechea, Rios, Aursnes; Sudakov, Lukebakio; Pavlidis
Submarines: Silences, Obrador, Ivanovic, Barrier, Schederup, Dahl, H Araujo, Wynder, Veroso, Rego, Priest, Lima
Arbitrator: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
How things look in the Champions League championship phase table after each team’s first two matches.
Preamble
The third day of the Champions League is approaching. It may seem a little early, but teams may be starting to look at their position in the standings after this week and wonder if they will get enough points on the board to qualify for the knockout stages. Intriguing matchups tonight will definitely help us
José Mourinho returns to British shores three weeks after Benfica’s narrow defeat at Chelsea. Since then, the Portuguese team has managed a goalless draw at Benfica and a 2-0 victory against second division side Chaves at the Taça de Portugal. Can they keep Newcastle – and Nick Woltemade – at bay in front of a bouncing St James’ Park?
Additionally, Pep Guardiola’s men travel to Villarreal hoping to right some wrongs after a 2-2 draw against Monaco last time out in the competition. Villarreal will need to limit Erling Haaland if they are to record their first victory in Europe this season. The striker has scored eight goals in eight Champions League matches against Spanish opponents.
Champions League
Barcelona 2-0 Olympiacos
Kairat Almaty 0-0 Paphos
Newcastle vs Benfica
Villarreal to Manchester City
Arsenal at Atlético Madrid
PSV vs Napoli
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Union Saint-Gilloise vs. Inter
Copenhagen vs Borussia Dortmund
There is much to hope for. Please feel free to email us with your thoughts, predictions, questions or your favorite goal of the season in Europe so far.
