Jude Bellingham’s dream start to life at Real Madrid continued as his mesmerising solo goal helped the Spanish giants down Napoli to make it two wins from two in this season’s Champions League.

Having grabbed a last-gasp winner to see off Union Berlin a fortnight ago, Bellingham first teed up Vinicius Junior to score after Leo Ostigard had put Napoli ahead at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Bellingham’s fabulous driving run and strike put Real ahead and, although they were pegged back by Piotr Zielinski’s penalty, Federico Valverde’s venomous strike rebounded off Alex Meret as Napoli lost 3-2.

Bellingham’s stunning goal – his eighth in nine matches since moving to the Spanish capital in the summer – threatened to be overshadowed by a contentious penalty awarded to the hosts.

Nacho Fernandez was penalised as the ball inadvertently cannoned off his legs into his arm after he had slid to cut out a cross from Victor Osimhen. While a corner was awarded on-field, referee Emil Bozinovski reversed his decision and gave a spot-kick after being summoned to the VAR monitor.

But Meret’s own goal saw Carlo Ancelotti enjoy a winning return to the side he managed from May 2018 to December 2019 as Real moved on to six points to go top of Group C.

Bellingham was immediately into the thick of proceedings as a long ball allowed Rodrygo to stretch his legs, although the Brazilian was unsettled enough by Stanislav Lobotka to shoot straight at Meret.

Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni blazed over, but Napoli opened the scoring in the 19th minute, thanks in part to Real goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missing a punch to clear Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s corner.

Although Bernardo Natan’s looping header thudded back off the bar, Ostigard was able to leap over Real defender Dani Carvajal to nod the rebound into an empty net.

The lead lasted eight minutes as Bellingham stretched to intercept Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s clumsy pass deep in Napoli’s half before teeing up Vinicius, who calmly slotted across Meret from an acute angle.

Real then went ahead for the first time in the 34th minute thanks to some magic from Bellingham, who collected on halfway, drove forward into the area and bulldozed his way round Ostigard before tucking a right-footed effort into the corner past Meret for his second Champions League goal in two matches.

Kepa atoned for his earlier error by getting a strong hand to keep out a header from Osimhen, who came out on top in an aerial battle with Antonio Rudiger, to keep Real ahead at half-time.

However, Napoli got the benefit of a questionable VAR decision after Osimhen’s attempted cross was cut out in the area by Nacho, whose sliding challenge ricocheted off his arm and out of play.

Bozinovski seemed bemused after being told to wait, but when he was called to the monitor the referee duly awarded a penalty, converted via a post by Zielinski, who scored his 50th Napoli goal.

That moment of fortune lifted Napoli as Kvaratskhelia shot wide before Zielinski saw his stinging drive from distance palmed away by Kepa, with Real forced to soak up some intense pressure on the hour.

Shortly after Ancelotti sent on Luka Modric, Real went close to retaking the lead as Carvajal’s snap shot was parried into the path of Bellingham, who headed the rebound wide, to his dismay.

But Real went ahead with 12 minutes left as Modric’s corner was only cleared to Valverde, who brought the ball down and unleashed a thunderbolt that crashed off the crossbar then thumped off the back of an unsuspecting Meret, who had been beaten for pace by the shot, before nestling in the net.

Ostigard forced Kepa into a save late on as Real rode a few nervy moments to pick up an important win.

Bayern Munich came from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League at Parken Stadium.

A shock was on the cards in Denmark when Lukas Lerager opened the scoring for Copenhagen 10 minutes after the break, but Munich were on level terms through Jamal Musiala’s clever strike from outside the area.

The decisive moment of the game came with 83 minutes on the clock when Mathys Tel lashed home from inside the box to break Copenhagen hearts and deny them a point.

The hosts had the first chance of the game through Mohamed Elyounoussi, but his effort from inside the area was well saved by Sven Ulreich.

Munich enjoyed the lion’s share of possession through the early stages before Elyounoussi had another chance for the home side – this time his header went straight into the gloves of Bayern goalkeeper.

Bayern came close to an opener themselves on the half-hour mark, but Joshua Kimmich’s drilled shot from outside the area flew marginally over the crossbar.

It took 45 minutes for the the visitors to register their first shot on target when Leroy Sane found space outside the area, but his whipped left-footed strike was comfortably held by Kamil Grabara.

The visitors went in search of the first goal early in the second half when Kimmich decided to have another go from range, but he was denied by Grabara again.

Much to the surprise of many, the home side opened the scoring in the 55th minute. Viktor Claesson jinked past two defenders before his initial goalbound effort was blocked, only for the ball to fall to Lerager who flashed home from inside the area.

Bayern instantly tried to shift the momentum to avoid defeat and almost got their equaliser eight minutes later, but Konrad Laimer’s header went marginally wide of a post.

Two minutes later, Thomas Tuchel’s side levelled in superb fashion through Musiala’s 67th-minute strike. The forward shifted the ball from left to right before he let fly from just outside the area and into the bottom right corner.

Munich pushed for a winner but Sane’s effort from a tight angle did not test Grabara in the home goal. Copenhagen did not want to settle for the solitary point either and could have regained their advantage, but Elyounoussi’s shot flew just wide of the target.

With seven minutes left on the clock, Bayern turned the game on its head after some fantastic work from Thomas Muller. He opened up the space for Tel, who blasted high into the net from 10 yards to make it two wins from their opening two Champions League games in Group A.

Manchester United fell to a jaw-dropping, error-ridden 3-2 defeat at home to Galatasaray as Erik ten Hag’s side saw their start to the season go from bad to worse in an embarassing Champions League collapse.

Having lost their Group A opener at Bayern Munich and fallen to a fourth defeat in seven Premier League matches on Saturday, the Red Devils reached a new low on a wet Tuesday night at Old Trafford.

Rasmus Hojlund scored a superb second after his opener was cancelled out by Galatasaray’s grinning former United forward Wilfried Zaha, only for Ten Hag’s men to spectacularly unravel.

Kerem Akturkoglu equalised and summer signing Andre Onana’s atrocious pass out straight to Dries Mertens led to a poor Casemiro recovery challenge that saw the Brazil midfielder sent off and a penalty awarded.

The goalkeeper – guilty of a costly gaffe in Munich – was relieved to see Mauro Icardi strike the spot-kick wide, but the striker swiftly made amends as United fell to a third Old Trafford loss of the campaign

Arsenal suffered a turbulent night in the Champions League as Bukayo Saka hobbled off during defeat in Lens.

Bad weather grounded Mikel Arteta and his players at Luton Airport for five hours on Monday as their journey to France was delayed.

Now their hopes of avoiding a bumpy ride in qualifying for the knockout stages have also suffered a setback after Lens came from behind to record a 2-1 victory at a rocking Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Gabriel Jesus thought he had given the Gunners lift-off when he broke the deadlock with his 22nd Champions League goal.

However, hopes of an easy night veered off course as an error from goalkeeper David Raya led to Adrien Thomasson levelling before Saka limped off hurt for the third time in nine days.

Elye Wahi then hit the winner with 20 minutes to go to open up Group B as Arsenal now face a tricky trip to Europa League holders Sevilla later in the month.

This was a first home Champions League game in 21 years for Lens and their fans were not going to miss the opportunity to enjoy the occasion.

A huge tifo, flares and a wall of sound greeted kick-off and their team certainly set about Arsenal in the opening exchanges, with Kevin Danso firing just wide after collecting a corner.

Despite the rapid start from the hosts, Arsenal struck first through Jesus’ tidy finish into the bottom corner after Saka had been gifted the ball by a sloppy backpass.

The noise inside the stadium remained despite Lens falling behind and the vociferous support were rewarded with an equaliser.

Raya, stood outside his box, looked to play a ball into midfield but the Arsenal goalkeeper’s pass was intercepted and moments later he was beaten by a fine curling strike from Thomasson to level the contest.

For the third game in a row, Saka then limped off injured having gone down off the ball.

He recovered after coming off late against Tottenham and Bournemouth but was replaced by Fabio Vieira here with the visit of Manchester City just five days away.

Leandro Trossard forced a smart save out of Brice Samba in the Lens goal at the start of the second-half as Arsenal looked to retake the lead.

The Ligue 1 side, though, started to take control of the game and Abdul Samed’s shot into the side-netting just after the interval was a warning for the visitors.

With the game opening up, Takehiro Tomiyasu had a great chance to turn home a corner but could only shoot straight at Mendy.

Lens would take the lead through Wahi, whose sweeping finish past Raya came after another break down the right flank.

Arteta responded with an immediate triple substitution as Ben White replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko with the ineffectual pair of Trossard and Kai Havertz taken off for Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.

Despite the alterations, Samba was largely untroubled for the remainder of the night, punching clear a Smith Rowe drive with Arsenal unable to create a clearcut chance to rescue a point.

Danny Care insists England will resume their World Cup quest armed with inspiration from Europe’s stirring Ryder Cup victory.

Care was among four England players to send a good luck message to Luke Donald’s team from a golf course in Le Touquet, where Steve Borthwick’s squad are based ahead of the final Pool D game against Samoa.

Europe emerged 16½-11½ winners against the United States on Sunday and for Care one aspect in particular stood out about their performance.

“Team spirit is the reason the best teams are successful,” the veteran Harlequins scrum-half said.

“I don’t know many environments where you wouldn’t have a good team spirit and the team ends up winning a tournament or a league or a trophy at the end of it.

“I was an outsider watching the Ryder Cup but they looked more aligned and close than the American team did.

“You could see it, you could feel it just watching on the screens. You could see how much it meant to them. That’s definitely something we’re trying to harness – how much it means to us.

“Europe hung in together, fought for everything. Those little half points that they saved. We can definitely take some inspiration from those lads.

“The golf they played was unbelievable. We haven’t shown much of that in Le Touquet, some of our lads!”

England have forged their own winning path so far in the World Cup, polishing off Argentina, Japan and Chile with plenty to spare.

Even with Samoa left to play they have qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners to continue an impressive revival since losing three of their four warm-up Tests in August.

“Sometimes you have to go through some bad stuff to get to the good stuff,” Care said.

“Maybe our bad stuff was those warm-up games, to get us to look at ourselves and go ‘Right, we need to pull together a little bit’. It’s going to take everyone to win this.”

England play Samoa in Lille on Saturday, with Borthwick naming his starting XV on Thursday evening.

Jacob Bruun Larsen’s dramatic winner snatched Burnley their first Premier League win of the season – a 2-1 victory at Luton.

The Dane’s goal-of-the-season contender came after Lyle Foster’s opener had been cancelled out by Hatters striker Elijah Adebayo.

Rob Edwards’ side were left to rue missed chances once again as they failed to build on Saturday’s 2-1 win at Everton.

Carlton Morris set the tone in the opening seconds when he closed down goalkeeper James Trafford’s clearance and minutes later his strike from inside the box went narrowly wide as the hosts looked for an early opener.

Burnley were second-best for the first 20 minutes, but Vincent Kompany’s men rode the storm and began to enjoy some success.

Clarets forward Zeki Amdouni tested Thomas Kaminski with a header from a corner that forced an acrobatic save from the Belgian to keep the score level.

This came shortly before Josh Brownhill had fired a warning shot from distance which narrowly avoided Kaminski’s top corner.

The chance of the half came in the 33rd minute. Alfie Doughty found wing-back partner Issa Kabore and he sent over a cross in search of Morris but the ball fell kindly for Chiedozie Ogbene, whose diving header was inches away from nestling inside Trafford’s post.

However, it was Burnley who struck first in time added on in the first half.

Sander Berge did well to find Foster and he beat Tom Lockyer in a foot race to tuck his effort away.

The Hatters almost equalised when Doughty’s inch-perfect corner found the head of Morris and his glancing header went inches wide.

Substitute Adebayo found the head of Jacob Brown who was denied by Josh Cullen on the line as the tide began to turn with 25 minutes to go.

After Morris was denied a penalty, his header missed the target once again as it started to feel like it was not going to be the Hatters’ night.

But it was Adebayo who grabbed Luton the goal they deserved after 84 minutes.

Reece Burke got on the end of a deep cross and provided the knockdown to the striker, who sorted his feet out and tapped home to level.

But their joy was short-lived as Burnley scored a second a minute later to stun Kenilworth Road into silence.

Bruun Larsen cut inside and produced an outstanding curled effort which found the top corner in front of the away fans.

Luton searched for a second equaliser during seven added minutes but it was not to be and Burnley held on for the win to move up to 18th in the table.

Barcelona boss Xavi insists his side are “ready” for their first away game in the Champions League against Porto on Wednesday.

Barca were victorious in their opening game in the competition after they ran riot with a 5-0 win over Antwerp thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski, Gavi, Jelle Batille’s own goal and a Joao Felix double.

Xavi’s side will be looking to make it two wins from two with victory at the Estadio do Dragao which would put them in an early comfortable position of qualifying from the group stages, something they failed to do in the competition last year.

Xavi knows the size of the task in front of his team but thinks they are prepared for the challenge.

He told Barca TV: “This is the Champions League. We are ready and excited to play tomorrow.

“We have in front a very difficult club in this stadium. It will be tough and really difficult because they play well, a good team with a good coach, very intensive, but we are ready.

“We are really excited and let’s see tomorrow.”

Felix has enjoyed a bright start to life in Barcelona since making the loan switch from Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid, notching three goals in his first six matches.

The forward will come up against a team from his native Portugal but insists “it is just another game”.

He added: “It may be special because it is a Portuguese side and more family and friends will be in the stands, but this is just another game that we aim to win.

“We want to take the Champions League step by step. Our aim is to get through the group and this is probably the toughest game of the group stage.”

Porto opened their campaign with a 3-1 win against Shakhtar Donetsk and have not faced Barcelona in the Champions League for 23 years.

Boss Sergio Conceicao said: “Let’s go into the game thinking that we can and should win. With confidence. The respect we have for our opponents doesn’t have to make us afraid of anything.

“All teams have weaknesses that can be exploited. We have to be solid in defence and then take advantage of any weaknesses (in Barcelona) to win the game.”

The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.

Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.

Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.

PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.

In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made.

“Offside, goal, yeah. That’s wrong that, Daz,” Cook is heard saying.

England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match.

England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred.

Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.

PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR.

“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR).

“The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match.

“The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.”

England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.

The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash.

PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials.

The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL.

A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.

“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.

“We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.”

England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match.

PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”

Things may not have gone exactly how Barbados artistic gymnasts Olivia "Storm' Kelly and Anya Pilgrim would have hoped, but both still had some significant positives to boast from their FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

An historic Olympic Games qualification was the main target for the American-based Kelly and Pilgrim, and though they came up short in that regards, both took heart from their respective performances on Monday. 

Pilgrim, who was making her World Championships debut, welcomed the fact that she was able to overcome certain obstacles among the minor successes worth celebrating.

She tallied 46.500 All-Around, with scores of 13.100 on vault, 10.700 on uneven bars, 11.300 on the balance beam and 11.400 on her floor routine. 

"I wholly enjoyed the experience. I hit all of my routines this time, even the skill that has been gave me some trouble at PanAms. So even though I did not have much preparation, I was able to do well, and I am happy with the outcome and the support I got from family and others on the island which makes me even prouder," Pilgrim told SportsMax.tv.

"I believe my score was an improvement from PanAms but of course the judging is much tighter at an event like World Championships. So, again, I am delighted that I was able to hit my beam routine which has been my troublesome event after my injury last year," the Jenny Rowland-coached gymnast added.

Given the fact that her inclusion in the Championships was somewhat last minute, the 18-year-old Pilgrim says her performance speaks volumes of her scope for improvement. 

She pointed out that it will serve as a springboard for her to attain other goals and ambitions she has set for the season, particularly with her University of Florida team.

 "I am just going to soak up the atmosphere here in Belgium while I reflect on the experience before returning to Florida to resume training for my NCAA season. This season, the goal, of course, would be to win a National Championship with my team, and achieve some personal bests of my own," she declared.

"And since I had to prepare my routines so early, I now have built up my endurance and stamina to complete routines on each event way before my season which will help me a lot. So now I can focus more on the details," Pilgrim shared. 

For Kelly, it was her second appearance on the World Championships stage, and she beamed about the prospects, as she also expressed delight about improvements from last year's outing.

The 17-year-old, coached by Ashley Umberger, had scores of 13.200 on vault, 11.666 on uneven bars, 11.933 on the balance beam and 11.700 on her floor routine for an All-Around total of 48.499 for 75th overall. She rose three places higher than the 78th position she achieved last year.

"They took the top 14 girls, who are not on a team and the girl that placed 14th has a 49.965 and I finished with a 48.499 which means I basically just missed out. But even though I didn’t qualify here at Worlds, there are a few other opportunities I can use to qualify, but that depends on if Barbados will send me," Kelly explained. 

"The experience was amazing overall. I’m not exactly sure what the plan is now, but if those opportunities are presented to me by Barbados, I will take them gladly. If not, I remain contented with how my elite season ended this year and I’m excited to start my new chapter in college next summer," she noted.

The audio recording of the discussion between the match officials that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed has been made public, with VAR Darren England swearing twice upon being told of his mistake.

Diaz was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside on the field after netting in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday, a decision which was not over-ruled by England and his assistant Daniel Cook.

Liverpool asked for a recording of what happened and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has taken the step to publicly release the communication into how the bungled verdict was reached.

PGMOL said England “lost sight of the on-field decision” due to “a lapse of concentration and loss of focus”.

In the recording, England says “check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect” before the replay operator and then Cook question whether the correct decision has been made.

England swears upon realising the error and then says “they’ve restarted the game. Can’t do anything, can’t do anything” as the replay operator makes repeated calls to delay the match.

England then issues another expletive before the tape finishes, the end of an incident in which PGMOL, the referees’ body, admitted immediately after the match that a “significant human error” had occurred.

Liverpool said “sporting integrity has been undermined”, while they released a statement the following day indicating they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution”.

PGMOL said in a statement accompanying the audio: “After the on-field officials had disallowed the goal for offside, the checking phase and process started and was carried out correctly by the VAR.

“In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on-field decision and he incorrectly communicated ‘check complete’, therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR (assistant VAR).

“The match then restarted immediately. After a few seconds, the replay operator and then the AVAR queried the check-complete outcome with the VAR and asked him to review the image that had been created, pointing out that the original on-field decision had been offside, but this was not communicated to the on-field team at any point during the match.

“The VAR team then gave consideration as to whether the game could be stopped at that point, however the VAR and AVAR concluded that the VAR protocol within the laws of the game would not permit that to happen, and they decided intervention was not possible as play had restarted.”

England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.

The pair had already been replaced for the remainder of their matchweek seven duties – England was due to be fourth official at Nottingham Forest v Brentford on Sunday, with Cook scheduled to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash.

PGMOL has vowed to learn from this incident, stressing accuracy over all else, including efficiency, to its video match officials and, from now on, a VAR must confer with their AVAR in the check process before relaying the final decision to the on-field officials.

The Premier League announced a wider review of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the weekend, is set to be held in conjunction with the PGMOL.

A Premier League spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.

“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.

“We have communicated fully with Liverpool FC on this matter and have shared PGMOL’s findings and relevant footage of the incident with all Premier League clubs.”

England and Cook have come under further scrutiny since Saturday after it was reported they were part of a refereeing team in the United Arab Emirates two days before the Tottenham-Liverpool match.

PGMOL added: “PGMOL and The FA have also agreed to review the policy to allow match officials to officiate matches outside of FIFA or UEFA appointments.”

Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has admitted Newcastle were the pot four team nobody wanted to draw as they renew their acquaintance with the Champions League.

The French side, along with AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, have been pitched into Group F battle with the Magpies, who are back in the big time after a 20-year absence following last season’s fourth-placed Premier League finish.

Enrique, part of the Barcelona side which lost 3-2 at St James’ Park in Newcastle’s very first fixture in the competition in 1997, knows they could be a major threat on their return to the European stage.

He said: “They are the team from the fourth pot in the draw that no-one really wanted, of course. We know that they play at a high level.

“They’re very good in possession, they’re very good off the ball as well. They play with a very high press – they’re almost a complete football team.

“Tomorrow, they’re going to be playing in front of their extremely passionate supporters as well, and that’s going to help them.

“All teams can go far in the Champions League. There’s no reason why Newcastle can’t go far either. No-one wanted to play them, I guess, also because we saw how good they were last season.

“It’s a spectacular place to go and play and it will also be good for us to see what our team is made of playing at St James’ Park.

“I’m envious of my players because they’re going to get to experience that first-hand out on the pitch tomorrow, and I just hope that it’s a great game.”

Enrique remembers his visit to Tyneside with Barca well, although not fondly despite scoring on a night when Tino Asprilla’s brilliant hat-trick saw Kenny Dalglish’s men secure one of the club’s most famous victories.

He said: “Obviously it was a tough game, a really tough game. Twenty-six years ago seems a lifetime ago, I guess – I was certainly a lot younger than I am now.

“It is true that I scored – I think it finished 3-2? They had great players, a great atmosphere generated by the crowd. It wasn’t easy then and I don’t suppose it will be easy tomorrow either.”

Defender Lucas Hernandez arrived in the north east of England with a little extra inside knowledge after speaking to his younger brother Theo, who played for AC Milan in their 0-0 draw with the Magpies a fortnight ago.

Asked what he had been told, Hernandez said: “He told me they were very solid in defence. I know Milan created quite a few chances, but they didn’t take them on the night and of course in the Champions League, if you don’t take your chances, obviously you’re not going to win the game.

“He told me more than anything else, they’re solid, compact, they’re good on the counter-attack and some of the players are very quick going forward.”

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli insists his side are full of confidence as they look to get their first Champions League Group F win at Borussia Dortmund.

The Rossoneri, last season’s semi-finalists, were held to a goalless draw at home by Newcastle in their opening match, while Dortmund lost away to Paris St Germain.

Pioli’s team, though, have since won three straight Serie A games, with their only defeat so far this season a 5-1 loss to city rivals Inter.

Defeat in Paris is Dortmund’s sole loss from eight games in all competitions – and Pioli is expecting a vociferous atmosphere when AC Milan run out at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday night

“Our recent wins in the league have given us confidence but now, tomorrow is all that matters,” Pioli told a press conference.

“Two years ago, when we played at Anfield, we were probably a bit afraid. But after a journey in Europe like ours, we’re able to compete in the competition and with atmospheres like this.

“We need to play with the right mentality and do all we can to try to win. The game is important in the group but there’s a long way to go, regardless of the outcome tomorrow. It won’t be decisive but the result will definitely matter.”

Pioli also highlighted Dortmund’s incredible home record in the Champions League.

He added: “They’ve not lost at home in the Champions League in almost two years.

“Dortmund play attacking football; they’re quick and have a lot of quality. We’ll need to be intelligent enough to attack the spaces and control the game at various moments.

“BVB are backed by a fantastic home support; we’ve spoken about these little details in training to be in the best shape possible for tomorrow evening.”

AC Milan look set to be without English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who went off during the first half of Saturday’s Serie A win over Lazio with a groin problem.

French defender Pierre Kalulu has missed the last five games with a thigh injury, while midfielder Rade Krunic is also out with a similar issue and not expected to return until after the international break later in October.

Dortmund won 3-1 at Hoffenheim on Friday night before turning their attention back on the Champions League.

Despite having three victories from their last four games in all competitions, Dortmund coach Edin Terzic wants his side fully focussed on the challenge ahead.

“It will be a completely different game to the one against Paris (in the opening group game),” Terzic told a press conference.

“We have to be braver when we don’t have the ball. Milan have a different way of playing, but we have introduced a lot of good things in the last few games that will be crucial again.

“At this level, no game will be easy, but we have our first home game, with our guys and the fans in the stadium, so we want to get our first win tomorrow.”

Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer is closing in on a return from an adductor problem suffered against PSG, but the Austrian is not expected to be involved on Wednesday night.

Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier is relishing the task of ruining Kylian Mbappe’s Champions League trip to Tyneside even if it might upset his son.

Magpies full-back Trippier is likely to be in direct competition with the Paris St Germain superstar when the clubs go head-to-head in Group F at St James’ Park on Wednesday evening.

However, he has revealed his son Jacob is a huge fan of Mbappe – who was seen calling for his gloves as he and his team-mates trained at an autumnal St James’ on Tuesday evening – and that has been a bone of contention in the lead up to an eagerly-anticipated game.

 

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Trippier said with a smile: “I was having a bit of banter with him last night and he said he wanted to walk out with Mbappe instead of me. I wasn’t really happy with that.

“He’s obsessed with him, always watching his clips on YouTube. I said to him, ‘If you get to walk out with Mbappe, you don’t look at me in the tunnel’.”

Trippier saw how dangerous Mbappe can be at close hand at last year’s World Cup finals, where he watched from the bench as France dumped England out at the quarter-final stage, and has also come up against the supremely-talented 24-year-old on the pitch on more than one occasion in the past.

He said: “I played against him – I think it might have been his debut game for Monaco – when I was at Tottenham, and I played against him for England on my debut – it’s quite a few years ago.

“This is football. These are the games you want as a player, playing in the Champions League, playing against the best players, the best teams. Paris have got unbelievable players in the team.

“Of course we need to recognise that Mbappe is one of the best players in the world, but they’ve got quality all over the pitch and we can’t be too fixed on them.

“We need to play our way because on our day, we can hurt anyone.”

For head coach Eddie Howe, the task is to put together a side which can extend an unbeaten five-game run in all competitions and build upon the start they achieved with a 0-0 draw at AC Milan in their opening fixture.

He will have to do so, however, without key defender Sven Botman and in all likelihood, with midfielder Joelinton and striker Callum Wilson also missing through injury.

The fixture, which rekindles memories of a famous 3-2 victory over Barcelona in the same competition in 1997, is a measure of the progress Newcastle have made in the two years since Amanda Staveley’s consortium launched its successful takeover and Howe, who arrived a few weeks later, admits the speed of progress has taken everyone by surprise.

He said: “Things move really quickly in football. I haven’t been here the whole two years, but my part of it has absolutely flown by.

“Initially, nothing like this was in our thoughts, the speed at which it’s happened. The only thing in our thoughts was staying in the Premier League initially.

“But the swing of momentum has shifted so powerfully and quickly in a positive direction for us. My only thought is to keep that momentum for as long as we can.”

A positive result against PSG would provide further evidence of the strides which have been taken, and Trippier insists victory, rather than football tourism, is his only focus.

Asked if he would be chasing Mbappe’s shirt after the final whistle, he said: “That has not crossed my mind. My thought process is to win.”

The audio that led to Luis Diaz’s goal being wrongly disallowed by VAR in Liverpool’s defeat at Tottenham has been released publicly by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited.

VAR Darren England and his assistant Daniel Cook did not over-rule the incorrect on-field decision of offside after Diaz had scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

PGMOL said in a statement on Tuesday evening that “standards fell short of expectations” and it has identified three key learnings “to mitigate against the risk of a future error”.

Liverpool said on Sunday they would explore their options given the “clear need for escalation and resolution” and PGMOL has provided a detailed report alongside the audio to the Premier League, which has in turn shared with Liverpool and the other 19 top-flight clubs.

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