Valencia v Chelsea: Champions League – live!

And we’re off! Frank’s Freewheelers get the party started. Another evening of wild and reckless abandon? Yes please! In the meantime, here’s Peter Oh: “A blood-orange sky, a club known for wearing orange, and an Oranje international in the home goal. Talk about chromatic determinism.”

The teams are out! It’s a cloudy evening in Valencia, though still a comparatively balmy 18 degrees. The atmosphere in the Mestalla is, however, red hot, much as you’d expect. Uefa’s official mangling of Zadok the Priest blasts out of the PA. Cesar Azpilicueta will swap that pennant in a minute. And then we’ll be off before you know it!

A pre-match word with Frank Lampard. “It’s much more of a must-not-lose than a must-win,” he tells BT Sport. “There’s a lot on it, but that’s football. We’ve pulled a lot of ground back since the first game against Valencia, and it’s very important we finish off the job. We’ve got two games to do it, but particularly tonight. I’ve got a competitive squad, with plenty of players knocking on the door. It’s no slight on the players who have come out, and I trust the players who are coming in. The strength of Manchester City and Liverpool has been their relentless nature, coming back from any little knock-back. So we need to try to close that gap, and it starts with consistency and reactions. And it’s a great chance for us to show that tonight.” Lampard talks really well, you know. He exudes a calm, cool authority, and doesn’t put too much pressure on his players. A class act. I fully appreciate some supporters of Leeds United may have a drastically different viewpoint regarding this matter.

On the subject of blood orange … oh my, what a sunset.

Here’s the pennant Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta will present to his opposite number Daniel Parejo before kick-off. A classy bit of merch. From this photo, we can also confirm that the Blues will be playing in, er, first choice blue. The hosts will be wearing their famous white shirts and black shorts, with a lovely dash of blood orange on the piping.

There are four changes to the Valencia team sent out at Stamford Bridge on matchday one. Jaume Costa, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres and Maxi Gomez replace Francis Coquelin, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Denis Cheryshev and Kevin Gameiro.

Chelsea make two changes to the side that gave it a good go at Manchester City last weekend. And they’re both at the back. Reece James comes in for Emerson, while Andreas Christensen replaces Fikayo Tomori.

Valencia: Cillessen, Costa Jaume, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya, Torres, Parejo, Wass, Carlos Soler, Rodrigo, Gomez.
Subs: Domenech Jaume, Correia, Mangala, Gameiro, Vallejo, Lee, Coquelin.

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Christensen, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Abraham, Pulisic.
Subs: Pedro, Caballero, Giroud, Mount, Batshuayi, Tomori, Emerson Palmieri.

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany).

It’s tight in Group H, where Ajax, Chelsea and Valencia are all on seven points after four matches. Three famous European giants are pirouetting on the proverbial knife-edge. Should either Chelsea or Valencia win in the Mestalla this evening, they’ll be through to the knockouts, due to a favourable head-to-head record in a potential three-way tie. So close! It’s there for the taking!

There’s only one problem for Frank’s Freewheelers: Valencia did a number on them in matchday one at Stamford Bridge. So should Los Ches beat them tonight, and assuming Ajax see off Lille, they’ll need Valencia to win in Amsterdam on matchday six to give them a chance of qualifying in place of the Dutch. This scenario doesn’t sound quite so promising.

But let’s not tie ourselves up in too many knots. Chelsea didn’t play particularly well when Valencia visited them on the opening day, but still would have snatched a draw had Ross Barkley slotted a late penalty. They’ve since embarked on a run of nine wins in their last 13 games, and won’t be too disheartened after that spirited defeat at Manchester City last weekend. Valencia by comparison have won just five of their last 13 … and their win at the Bridge was their only historical success against the Blues in seven attempts.

Given the fixture list, which sends Valencia to Ajax and Lille to London on matchday six, a draw would be a decent enough result for Chelsea too. Another 4-4, then, anyone? Eh, why not. It’s on!

Kick off: 5.55pm GMT (6.55pm local in Valencia).