Aadam Patel
Football Reporter

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One of the big talking points when Andoni Iraola was appointed as Liverpool boss was the question of how he would fare with two games a week.

We’ll get our first idea of that this week and it must be a positive for Iraola and Liverpool that both of those games are at home, starting with the visit of Atletico Madrid tomorrow before Fulham come to Anfield on Saturday.

For Iraola, there will be certainly be a sense of excitement when he speaks at Anfield ahead of what will be his first ever Champions League game as a manager. Alexis Mac Allister will also take part in the media duties.

As always, a European night at Anfield will be quite the occasion and even more so, against a familiar face in Diego Simeone. The Atletico boss clashed with Liverpool fans at the end of their 3-2 defeat at Anfield last season.

Julian Alvarez, who wanted to leave Atletico for Barcelona over the summer window, has travelled with the squad to England.

OK, to Liverpool next.

Manager Andoni Iraola and Alexis Mac Allister are about to face the media before Wednesday's Champions League opener at home to last season's semi-finalists Atletico Madrid...

Ballon d'Or

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Remember this guy?

Cape Verde’s 40‑year‑old World Cup hero Vozinha has capped his remarkable summer with a nomination for the Ballon d’Or goalkeeper of the year award.

Full goalkeeper nomination list:

• Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Belgium)
• Joan Garcia (Barcelona/Spain)
• Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund/Switzerland)
• Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Chelsea/Argentina)
• Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli/Senegal)
• David Raya (Arsenal/Spain)
• Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal/Morocco)
• Matvey Safonov (Paris St-Germain/Russia)
• Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)
• Vozinha (Colo-Colo/Cape Verde)

Right, we have some more Ballon d'Or news now before we switch our attention to Liverpool, who have a news conference coming up at around 13:00 BST...

Arsenal

Some team news ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Napoli on Wednesday.

After a few weeks of individual work, Jurrien Timber has rejoined full training as he continues his recovery from a long‑term groin injury.

Bruno Guimaraes has also returned after he was absent from the squad that beat Chelsea on Sunday.

There was no sign of Christian Mosquera, who was forced off in their recent win over Aston Villa with a muscular problem.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

When it comes to the league phase, Liverpool have the easiest draw according to Opta's power rankings while Stuttgart have the easiest run overall and Inter Milan the most favourable of the teams from pot one.

Arsenal also have a relatively favourable draw. Despite drawing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich from pot one, Mikel Arteta's side also drew the two lowest-ranked sides in the competition - Sabah and Slovan Bratislava.

Manchester City face the toughest fixtures of the English clubs with only five teams receiving a tougher draw overall. They have drawn two European giants from pot one in Barcelona and PSG, while 24th-ranked Napoli are a particularly difficult test from pot three.

Last season, Arsenal finished top of the league phase after being given one of the easiest fixture lists according to Opta, while Bayern Munich finished second despite being handed the toughest set of opponents of all 36 sides.

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If we take anything away from these fixtures, apart from a sense of shame on my part, it is that there are some tough games in there for all of the Premier League clubs.

Which begs the question, which English team has the best run of fixtures in the league phase?

Liverpool

• Atletico Madrid (home)
• Inter Milan (away)
• Porto (home)
• Club Brugge (away)
• Villarreal (home)
• Fenerbahce (away)
• Lens (home)
• LASK (away)

Aston Villa

• PSG (home)
• Barcelona (away)
• Borussia Dortmund (home)
• Club Brugge (away)
• Fenerbahce (home)
• Galatasaray (away)
• Viking (home)
• Slavia Prague (away)

Manchester United

• Bayern Munich (home)
• Atletico Madrid (away)
• Roma (home)
• Sporting Club (away)
• Leipzig (home)
• Villarreal (away)
• Sabah (home)
• Como (away)

Apologies for getting carried away with these fixtures.

At this point I believe it is important to note that they are not in the order these matches will be played...

They are grouped in the seeding order, so the top seeds first, down to the bottom seeds.

Manchester City

• PSG (home)
• Barcelona (away)
• Sporting Club (home)
• Porto (away)
• Napoli (home)
• RB Leipzig (away)
• AEK Athens (home)
• Lens (away)

We have an Arsenal update coming up shortly as Mikel Arteta has been putting his players through their paces in an open training session this morning...

Arsenal

• Real Madrid (home)
• Bayern Munich (away)
• Borussia Dortmund (home)
• Real Betis (away)
• Lille (home)
• Napoli (away)
• Sabah (home)
• Slavia Prague (away)

The question we really want an answer to is whether any of the five Premier League clubs - Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa - in this season's competition can put an end to Paris St-Germain's winning run?

Let's have a look at their fixtures in the league phase...

Here is confirmation of Paris St-Germain's recent dominance, but can they continue that trend?

Remember, only three clubs - Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern Munich - have ever won the European Cup or Champions League over three consecutive seasons.

Real Madrid are the only team to have done it in the Champions League era - from 2016 to 2018.

Champions League winners over the past 11 seasons:

• 2026 – Paris St‑Germain
• 2025 – Paris St‑Germain
• 2024 – Real Madrid
• 2023 – Manchester City
• 2022 – Real Madrid
• 2021 – Chelsea
• 2020 – Bayern Munich
• 2019 – Liverpool
• 2018 – Real Madrid
• 2017 – Real Madrid
• 2016 – Real Madrid

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The next question is how can you follow the Champions League?

Well, you will be able watch highlights of Europe's showpiece competition on the BBC.

Much like in the previous two campaigns, from 22:00 [either BST or GMT] on the Wednesday of Champions League matchweeks, there will be match-by-match highlights available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

You'll also be able to watch highlights, with analysis from our experts on the big stories and talking points, in Match of the Day on Wednesdays on BBC One at 22:40 and on Thursday, 10 September on BBC One at 22:40 BST.

There will be clips available on the BBC Sport website, app and on social media.

You will also be able to follow all the action online and on the BBC Sport app through our live text coverage, as well as listen to radio commentary.

BBC Radio 5 Live will continue to have live commentary of selected Champions League games this season.

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Champions League

Each of the 36 teams plays eight different teams - four at home and four away - in the league phase.

Teams who finish in the top eight automatically qualify for the last 16, while those placing ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.

Sides who finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, and will not drop into the Europa League.

Last season, eventual runners-up Arsenal topped the league phase standings with 24 points after eight wins from as many matches.

Liverpool were third - behind second-placed Bayern Munich - with 18 points while Tottenham finished one point behind in fourth.

Chelsea and Manchester City also qualified directly for the last 16 after finishing sixth and eighth respectively, while Newcastle finished 12th.

Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle and Spurs were knocked out in the last 16 last season while Liverpool were beaten in the quarter-finals by PSG, who also edged Arsenal in the final for their second consecutive title.

OK, we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves talking about the winners before a Champions League ball has been kicked.

So let's go back to the beginning for a reminder of how this competition works...