Ruairidh Barlow

The headline Champions League fixture of the week pits two the most successful teams in European against each other, as Real Madrid travel to Anfield to face Liverpool at 21:00 CEST on Wednesday.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is no doubt struggling to come to terms with the run his side is on, but he was a chastening side on Tuesday night.

France captain Kylian Mbappe looked like a man with the weight off his shoulders when he was presented at the Santiago Bernabeu in July to an adoring Real Madrid crowd.

Barcelona had a fairly relaxed night in the Champions League against Brest on Tuesday night, circulating the ball with ease in a calm 3-0 win.

Barcelona have been forced to turn to their academy and in Pedri and Ronald Araujo's cases, younger talents brought in, due to their finances in recent years.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick had suffered a defeat and a loss without Lamine Yamal on the pitch due to his ankle injury, and it might have been

While much of the talk for the past week or two has been about the future of Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, in another sense, Los Rojiblancos did enter a new era this summer.

Real Madrid are set to go into a major Champions League clash with Liverpool at Anfield, aware that if they lose, it could mean farewell to their hopes of finishing in the top eight.

With a tone of resignation, Villarreal manager Marcelino Garcia Toral declared that he could not see himself ever being given a shot by Real Madrid or Barcelona, the two most prestigious jobs in the country.

It is to be celebrated whenever a match sponsor finds it in them to give the player of the match award to the one that deserves it, without allowing their vision to be obscured by a goal or an assist.