Key events
Real Madrid v Sporting CP teams
Women’s Champions League: Real won the first leg 2-1, courtesy of a stoppage-time winner from Melanie Leupolz, formerly of Chelsea.
Manchester City v Paris FC teams
Women’s Champions League: On to the 7pm kick-offs we go. Manchester City have this one already sewn up, having won the first leg 5-0.
Tonight’s #UWCL squad! 🩵
XI | Keating, Layzell, Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Fowler, Kelly, Kennedy, Park, Blindkilde Brown, Shaw, Hasegawa
SUBS | Yamashita, Startup, Miedema, Coombs, Hemp, Casparij, Fujino, Prior, Murphy, Thomas, O’Carroll#ManCity pic.twitter.com/aKTfIiwRxH
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) September 26, 2024
Half-time scores
Here’s how we’re looking in the 5.45pm (BST) kick-offs:
Women’s Champions League qualifying:
Europa League:
Europa League: A huge chance wasted by Rangers, with five minutes left in the first half. Bajrami plays in Vaclav Cerny, Malmö completely cut open, but the right-winger blazes wide when facing off one-on-one with the keeper. It remains 1-0 to Rangers.
GOAL! Fenerbahce 1-0 Union Saint-Gilloise (Soyuncu 26)
Europa League: The Leicester old boy strikes. Soyuncu is up in the six-yard box from a corner and is quick to the bouncing ball to hook it into the net. José Mourinho sips on his water bottle.
Europa League: Malmö have the ball in the back of the net … but the flag goes up. Isaac Kiese Thelin was the goalscorer, with a lovely first-time finish in the box after receiving from a free-kick … but he was offside by a fair whack. It remains 1-0 to Rangers.
GOAL! PSG 0-1 Juventus (Cantore 2)
Women’s Champions League: Juventus make their aggregate lead 4-1, with Sofia Cantore slotting in after a game of pinball in the PSG box from a corner.
GOAL! Malmö 0-1 Rangers (Bajrami 1)
Europa League: Not even a minute on the clock! It’s a backpass gone wrong from Malmö, which Cyriel Dessers gets on the end of. He goes around the keeper, somehow misses the open goal, but the ball comes off the post for Nedim Bajrami to slot in.
Europa League: Another familiar name in the Malmö line-up is Pontus Jansson, once of Leeds before joining Brentford. He pairs up with Rösler in the heart of defence.
Europa League: “Check out Malmö number 19 Rösler, it is the son of old Man City legend Uwe,” writes Oyvind Kristiansen. Colin Rösler is the one to watch then. He spent a few years at Manchester City himself, coming through the age-groups before getting his pro start at NAC Breda in 2019.
Europa League: In case you haven’t clocked it, this new-look competition has adopted the 36-team league format that has been employed in the Champions League.
The Supercomputer – not keen on taking over the world just yet – has been busy running through who’ll win the whole thing. Rangers and Malmö fans, look away.
Fenerbahce v Union Saint-Gilloise teams
Europa League: Of course José has a pic on Fenerbahce’s team sheet. They’ve got some serious Europa heritage thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri, signed from Sevilla – who usually run this show – in the summer.
PSG v Juventus teams
Women’s Champions League: England’s Mary Earps is in the PSG XI for their encounter against Juventus, her side having lost the first leg 3-1.
Juventus: Peyraud-Magnin, Lenzini, Calligaris, Cascarino, Bergamaschi, Caruso (c), Bennison, Krumbiegel, Cantore, Girelli, Beccari
Malmö v Rangers teams
Europa League: Dutch defender Neraysho Kasanwirjo makes his first start for Rangers, who are third in the league after five games.
Preamble
Hello, hello and welcome to tonight’s European show. We’ve got Women’s Champions League qualifying to keep tabs on, as well as some edgy Europa League action – yes, that’s right, we know you’re only here to hear about Ajax’s Wout Weghorst meeting his old teammates at Besiktas.
The key plotline for the evening – from an English perspective – is the position Arsenal find themselves in. One-nil down from their first leg against Häcken in the Women’s Champions League, they need victory by two goals at home to advance to the group stages (yes, I’ve done the maths).
These are the ones I’ll be keeping a closer eye on tonight:
Women’s Champions League qualifying (all times BST):
PSG v Juventus – 5.45pm
Manchester City v Paris FC – 7pm
Real Madrid v Sporting – 7pm
Celtic v Vorskla Poltava – 7.15pm
Arsenal v Häcken – 7.30pm
Europa League:
Fenerbahce v Union SG – 5.45pm
Malmö v Rangers – 5.45pm
Ajax v Besiktas – 8pm
Roma v Athletic Bilbao – 8pm
Lyon v Olympiakos – 8pm
