Champions League LIVE: Manchester United, Chelsea, Celtic and Barcelona in action

Champions League LIVE: Follow Manchester United, Chelsea, Celtic and Barcelona in action with Express Sport.

MANCHESTER UNITED V BASEL

18:20: Ahhh Jose, always a ray of sunshine in our lives.

Having last season missed out on Champions League qualification for just the second time in 22 years, Jose Mourinho has downplayed Manchester United’s chances of winning it.

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It will be United’s first match in the competition for 644 days and appears a great opportunity to hit the ground running, although the Portuguese knows quite a challenge lies in wait in this competition.

“I think motivation is very important and of course motivation is very high. I think in the Champions League there are four or five teams with an incredible level of quality, of experience, of know-how and that’s what makes the difference,” United boss Mourinho said.

“We have to try to qualify, we have to try to go to the last-16 and enjoy that special knockout phase with the best teams in Europe.”

CHELSEA v QARABAG

18:15: Qarabag boss Gurban Gurbanov insisted his side aren’t scared of Chelsea.

Which of course is like saying you’re not scared of spiders until a massive b****** comes crawling out from underneath the shelves.

Anyway, here’s what he said.

“We’re not scared of any of them. They have one of the best coaches in Europe and they have some of the best players in Europe. Even though Chelsea is an icon in the Champions League and have a big chance to win the Champions League this season, the team is ready and we’re going to play until the end.”

18:10: Those nerds down at SmartBet have been crunching the numbers again and have some bad news for Chelsea fans.

None of the last six Champions League winners won their domestic title the year previously – an odd quirk that could also signify trouble for Real Madrid as they attempt to make it three European Cups in a row.

Don’t shoot the messenger!

TWITTER ROUND-UP

Charles: Glad to see Chelsea back in the Champions League this season. Let’s make the Blue flag flying high in Europe and good luck for tonight’s match.

Tony: Come on Manchester United, this UCL is your stage, your place, you play at home, dominate game, create chances, scores goals, and make the fans happy.

Pedro: Good luck Celtic! Let’s prove to everyone else that money doesn’t play football!

18:00: Manchester City have WON the Champions League… OK, not quite.

But they sit top of an English dominated Champions League transfer table, according to research from SmartBets.

The £222.3million spent by City in the summer transfer window sees them sneak ahead of Paris St-Germain as Europe’s top spenders, as the middle eastern backed pair attempt to buy their way to their first European Cup titles.

Given the riches of the Premier League, it’s no surprise to see English teams dominate the transfer table, with Chelsea and Manchester United also making up the top five – and Tottenham and Liverpool both placing in the top 11 teams.

CELTIC V PARIS ST-GERMAIN

17:50: Celtic begin their Champions League campaign with a home game against a free-spending and star-studded Paris St Germain at Parkhead.

The Scottish champions will be up against the most expensive front-line ever assembled in Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. The £400million-plus trio have taken PSG to five league wins in five this season with all three scoring in the 5-1 win away to 10-man Metz on Friday night.

With Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko still coming back from injury, midfielder Nir Bitton might again be asked to partner Jozo Simunovic at the heart of the Hoops defence with Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney the regular full-backs.

However, no matter who plays and what formation they appear in, in terms of the pace, skill and trickery of the visitors, Celtic will be asked questions they have not been asked since last season’s Champions League campaign.

MANCHESTER UNITED V BASEL

17:40: Manchester United make their much-anticipated Champions League return against Basel tonight.

Fresh from netting the 150th goal of his club career in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke, Romelu Lukaku is now looking to score in the Champions League group stage for the first time.

A third-round qualifying appearance against Wales’ TNS and three play-off matches with Anderlecht have been his the only chances at the continent’s top table so far. The big-money summer signing now has the chance for his first group-stage goals, having netted nine times in seven outings for club and country this term.

Still, that third-round qualifying appearance against Wales’ TNS shouldn’t be overlooked…

CHELSEA v QARABAG

17:30: Let’s start with the Champions. Chelsea make their Champions League return tonight in their Group C tie against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were not involved in European competition last term, for the first time since 1996-97.

They had appeared in every Champions League group stage since 2003-04, although suffered the ignominy of becoming the first holders to exit at that stage in 2012-13 when they went on to win the Europa League.

Chelsea will be keen to start well, given a trip to Atletico Madrid and double header with Roma follow.

17:20: Order of business…

I’m sure you’re all aware of who YOUR team is playing tonight, but here’s what everyone else is doing tonight.

Chelsea v Qarabag, Roma v Atletico Madrid, Olympiakos v Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United v Basel, Benfica v CSKA Moscow, Barcelona v Juventus, Bayern Munich v Anderlecht, Celtic v Paris St-Germain.

Crikey, and the Great British Bake Off is on tonight!

17:10: Chelsea were the last British club to win the Champions League, but there’s been a bit of a dry spell since then.

And when I say dry spell, I mean drought.

No British side have made the final since that famous night in Munich, when Chelsea beat Bayern on penalties in their own back yard.

Can Celtic, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Tottenham make history this year? Fingers crossed!

17:00: Good evening, welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Champions League.

It’s been exactly 101 days since Real Madrid beat Juventus in last season’s final, and I think that’s long enough before someone’s allowed to steal their crown.

32 teams have the opportunity to stop Zinedine Zidane’s side from winning a third-consecutive title, six of whom are our British representatives, who’ll all be hoping it’s their year.

If you’re ready, I’ll begin…

MANCHESTER UNITED v BASEL

Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof will start Manchester United’s Champions League opener at home to Basle.

The centre-backs will come in for the Group A clash as Eric Bailly and Phil Jones serve the final matches of their European suspensions, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo remain absent through knee injuries.

The latter trained on the eve of the game along with Ashley Young and Luke Shaw, as did Marouane Fellaini after missing Saturday’s draw at Stoke with a calf complaint. David De Gea will start in goal instead of Sergio Romero.

Manchester United provisional squad: De Gea, Romero, Valencia, Darmian, Lindelof, Smalling, Blind, Shaw, Young, Fellaini, Matic, Herrera, Carrick, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Lukaku, Martial.

CHELSEA v QARABAG

Danny Drinkwater will miss Chelsea’s Champions League return against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag with a calf problem.

The midfielder picked up the injury in training on Sunday, but Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte otherwise has a fully fit squad to choose from and hinted he will rotate his players.

Defender and club captain Gary Cahill is back in contention after a three-game domestic ban.

Chelsea provisional squad: Courtois, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Fabregas, Kante, Morata, Hazard, Pedro, Bakayoko, Moses, Kenedy, Musonda, Zappacosta, Willian, Batshuayi, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Clarke-Salter, Scott, Eduardo.

CELTIC v PARIS ST-GERMAIN

Striker Leigh Griffiths is available for Celtic’s Champions League opener against Paris St-Germain at Parkhead.

The Hoops attacker missed Friday night’s win over Hamilton with a calf injury but has been declared fit for the visit of the star-studded French side.

Striker Moussa Dembele, out since July with a hamstring complaint, is back training but still not up to speed while defenders Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko are working their ways back from knee problems.

Celtic provisional squad: Gordon, Lustig, Tierney, Ajer, Simunovic, Brown, Forrest, Sinclair, Armstrong, Bitton, Roberts, Hayes, McGregor, Benyu, Ntcham, Ralston, Griffiths, Edouard, Miller, De Vries.

BARCELONA v JUVENTUS

Barcelona have won 13 of their last 16 Champions League group games, drawing two and losing once.

They have also scored in 43 of their last 44 group games – the only time they have drawn a blank during that run was in December 2012 in a 0-0 stalemate against Benfica.

With Lionel Messi having plundered his 38th career hat-trick in Saturday’s 5-0 derby win over Espanyol, they face a superstar in great form. But they did keep Barca out last season, winning 3-0 in Italy and drawing 0-0 in Spain.

It is Juventus’ 18th appearance in the Champions League, a new record for an Italian side ahead of AC Milan (17), but they have not won the competition since 1996.

Juve have lost two of the last three finals – including last season’s 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Wales – and beat Barca in the quarter-finals.