England international Fikayo Tomori has warned Sandro Tonali that friendship will go out of the window when AC Milan and Newcastle head into Champions League battle on Tuesday night.

The two men were team-mates last season as Milan made it to the semi-finals of the competition and finished fourth in Serie A, but they will be on opposing sides at the San Siro following midfielder Tonali’s £53million summer switch to St James’ Park.

Former Chelsea defender Tomori, 25, admits it will be god to see his former colleague again – but only after the final whistle.

He told a press conference: “Obviously it will be nice to see him again. We played a lot of games together.

“It will be nice to see him again so soon after he left, but we are professionals. When the game starts, friendships go out of the window. We want to win.

“After the game, we can start being friends again. During the game, though, we are not friends.”

The Italians will hope for a positive start to the campaign as they attempt to bounce back from Saturday’s 5-1 derby mauling by Inter, the side which dumped them out of the Champions League last season.

Tomori was a frustrated by-stander at the weekend as he sat out through suspension following his red card in the 2-1 win at Roma before the international break and is determined to make up for lost time after witnessing a horror show in the wake of three successive league wins.

He said: “I was disappointed not to have been able to help my team-mates on the pitch. Watching the match on TV is tough, you can’t help the team.

“Tomorrow I’ll be on the pitch, I hope. We’ll try to win and start the group well.”

Milan, who received a visit from former player Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Monday morning as they finalised their preparations for the game, are expecting an all-action approach from the Magpies on their return to the competition after a gap of 20 years.

Eddie Howe’s men warmed up for the trip to Italy with a narrow 1-0 Premier League win over Brentford, and the Rossoneri are in little doubt as to what will lie ahead.

Boss Stefano Pioli said: “[Newcastle] seem like a classic English team to me with physicality, pressure and intensity.

“They are very tall and dangerous on the dead ball, without neglecting their quality.”

The eyebrows that were raised when Brighton replaced Graham Potter with Roberto De Zerbi have been put firmly in their place over the last 12 months.

It was on September 18 a year ago, only 10 days after Potter’s departure for Chelsea, that the Seagulls announced their new boss would be a little-known Italian.

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom had identified De Zerbi as his next managerial target some time before after being impressed by his work in Italy with Benevento and Sassuolo, which then continued when he moved to Shakhtar Donetsk.

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Arriving at Brighton with little English and big boots to fill, it was perhaps not surprising it was seen as a risky move but the only question now is how long the Seagulls will be able to hang onto him.

De Zerbi did not win any of his first five games in charge but thumped Potter’s Chelsea 4-1 for his maiden victory and did not look back.

Premier League highlights included the double over Chelsea and wins over Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal while they also beat Liverpool during a run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup that only ended with a penalty shoot-out loss to United.

Brighton eventually finished sixth, securing European football for the first time in the club’s history with a place in the Europa League.

And they have picked up where they left off this season, winning four of their opening five matches, including back-to-back 3-1 wins over Newcastle and Manchester United.

That is despite again selling a number of their star performers, with Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez heading to Chelsea and Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool.

Selling on players and reinvesting the money in potential stars of the future is central to the Brighton model.

Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma, Leandro Trossard, Ben White and Dan Burn have all departed the Amex Stadium for bigger Premier League names in recent seasons while the likes of Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson are sure to be on many wishlists.

The no-nonsense De Zerbi has clearly had a big impact on the players he has worked with, and Lewis Dunk opened up on the Italian’s methods after regaining his place in the England squad.

“Football-wise, since the new manager at Brighton has come in I see football in a completely different way, I picture it in a different way and that is the biggest thing,” he said earlier this month.

“Football is not what I thought it was. Just how we play now. The idea of what I did before, I thought it made sense. But when you learn something completely different, you believe in it and this makes sense.

“You think, ‘Why didn’t I know this?’ and, ‘Why didn’t I do this before?’

“(I) know every position on the pitch and where they should be. The time they should move and what angles they should give. We see it every day and it makes life simpler.”

That attention to detail and precision is at the heart of De Zerbi’s footballing philosophy, with Brighton widely praised for their attacking panache and high-energy game.

Balancing trying to take another step forward in the Premier League this season with the demands of European football is a new challenge for De Zerbi but, based on the last 12 months, it would be no surprise if he found the right formula.

The Champions League returns this week with all four Premier League sides kicking off their campaigns having had very different relationships with this competition in recent seasons.

Manchester City are out to defend their crown, whilst Arsenal and Newcastle are back after lengthy absences, although Eddie Howe’s side have had by far the longer wait at 20 years.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will be looking to bring Erik ten Hag some respite from a disappointing start to the domestic season.

The PA news agency looks at the four sides the English clubs will face first.

Manchester City v Red Star Belgrade (Tuesday)

Red Star Belgrade clinched a record 34th league title in comprehensive fashion last season, finishing the campaign unbeaten and dropping only 14 points along the way.

They had to contend with the resignation of their manager, the former Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic, in August 2022 after the team were eliminated in the Champions League play-off round, though his replacement Milos Milojevic enjoyed a seamless transition as the club cantered to a sixth straight crown.

This season has seen another managerial change with the club appointing the Israeli Barak Bakhar, whose Maccabi Haifa side were responsible for Red Star’s Champions League elimination last August.

Central to last season’s success was winger Aleksandar Katai who weighed in with 19 goals, though with the country’s top stars increasingly been lured to foreign teams, the club is acclimatising to a new reality in which virtually none of the current Serbia side play for them, an unthinkable situation until recent years.

The club had to be bailed out in April by over £2million of government money, a month after they had settled  an outstanding hefty tax bill. It all means Bakhar’s team has been assembled on a budget and could struggle against treble-winning City.

AC Milan v Newcastle (Tuesday)

On paper, Newcastle could not be facing Milan at a better moment, coming off the back of their humiliating 5-1 defeat to city rivals Inter on Saturday.

Reports in Italy suggest that manager Stefano Pioli will respond by altering his line-up with former Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic, who has started all four league games and scored twice since moving to Serie A, in line to be dropped in favour of summer signing Samuel Chukwueze.

England international Fikayo Tomori could also return in central defence after missing the Inter thrashing through suspension.

The 2021/22 Serie A champions had made a solid start to the season prior to the weekend with three wins from three, having adapted well to the loss of Sandro Tonali – who has recovered from injury and is available – following his move to St James’s Park.

Pioli’s team have been predictably roasted by the Italian press since Saturday’s humbling loss and are under pressure to make a fast start to their European campaign.

Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven (Wednesday)

PSV romped into the group stages with a 5-1 win in the second leg of their play-off against Rangers, but it came off the back of a disappointing campaign last season under the now departed Ruud van Nistelrooy.

They were ultimately unable to recover from a poor first half of their Eredivisie season, despite beating eventual champions Feyenoord 4-3 in September and winning 2-1 at Ajax in November which saw them go top.

Form deserted them either side of the World Cup and though they largely righted things they were unable to keep pace with an astonishing 13-game winning run from Feyenoord from February onwards.

Van Nistelrooy walked out in May after winning the KNVB Cup citing a lack of management support amid a reported player revolt, and former Ajax and Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Bosz is the man now tasked with winning the club’s first title since 2018.

Bayern Munich v Manchester United (Wednesday)

Manchester United fans sang “we’ll see you next season” to transfer target Harry Kane when their team played at Tottenham in April but they had not expected it to be in the colours of Bayern Munich.

The England captain will be reuniting with an old foe from the country where he made his name sooner than he might have imagined and does so with four goals under his belt from his first four Bundesliga games for the champions.

Bayern are second in the league after conceding an equaliser in the fourth minute of added time against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.

Thomas Tuchel won this competition with Chelsea in 2021 and the comprehensive manner in which Bayern were eliminated by Manchester City in last season’s quarter-final was a source of bitter personal disappointment.

Injured pair Kingsley Coman and Raphael Guerreiro are back in training ahead of the game against United, with the latter still yet to make an appearance since signing from Dortmund.

Clive Cox is eager to test the big-race credentials of Ghostwriter in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes after the exciting prospect maintained his unbeaten record on his latest start at Ascot.

The son of Invincible Spirit was sent off at 9-1 on debut at Newmarket, but made a mockery of his odds when sauntering to an impressive three-and-a-half-length victory.

He then confirmed the promise of that performance when making all in encouraging fashion in the hands of William Buick at Ascot, defying his inexperience in the closing stages to pull away for a cosy one-and-a-quarter-length success.

Cox has always had Newmarket’s Royal Lodge earmarked as the place to raise the sights of the Jeff Smith-owned youngster and he is now firmly on course for a step up to Group Two company on September 30.

“With a penalty, to stretch away as pleasingly as he did was great. He is still a bit green and now has a bit more experience under his belt and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the progress he’s making,” said Cox.

“He’s got size, scope and a wonderful pedigree and he’s come through his first two races with a lot of promise and excitement.

“We entered him for the Royal Lodge with Ascot being the ideal stepping stone if everything progressed as well as it has, so I very much intend, all being well, to head in that direction.”

Also on track for Newmarket is Jasour, with the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes – on the same afternoon as the Royal Lodge – the preferred destination for the July Stakes scorer.

The form of that Group Two victory was given a welcome boost when the William Haggas-trained runner-up Lake Forest claimed the Gimcrack, but Jasour has a small point to prove having disappointed at Deauville when seeking Group One riches in the Prix Morny.

However, Cox is confident the son of Havana Grey should be judged on his previous endeavours and the youngster is backed to recover from a minor blip in his fledgling career.

“Jasour is in excellent form,” he added.

“He has a Middle Park entry which would be our intended target. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way he has conducted himself at home after a sideways step in the Morny.

“I think we still believe the horse we saw at Newmarket in July is a true witness to what we have really got.”

England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood has backed Zak Crawley’s attacking game and cricket brain to shine through in his unexpected captaincy stint against Ireland.

Already a Test regular, Crawley has been eager to break into the white-ball setup for some time but even he would not have predicted his big chance would come as skipper.

Yet with the World Cup squad resting up ahead of next month’s World Cup in India, the 25-year-old has been picked to lead a development side in the three-match series.

Crawley has just three ODI caps to his name after answering an SOS from the selectors when a Covid outbreak affected the original squad, but this represents a more intriguing examination – of both his white-ball skills and his future leadership potential.

And Collingwood, who worked closely with Crawley during his outstanding Ashes series this summer and captained England’s limited-overs sides in his playing days, expects him to pass with flying colours.

“Zak’s already had a great summer and a memorable Ashes, so this is a perfect opportunity for him,” Collingwood told the PA news agency.

“It’s just an extension of what he’s been doing. People think coming from red-ball cricket means you need to do things differently but if you look at Zak he’s basically been playing Test match cricket with a white-ball attitude.

“He looks to score, he’s aggressive and he has incredible talent. We all know he’s got those long levers, he’s got the power and he’s got the timing. It should be great to watch.”

Collingwood has no concerns about Crawley being weighed down by the responsibility of captaining in a format he has yet to establish himself in as a batter, citing his mental toughness after a long period of intense scrutiny during leaner times in his Test career.

“He takes it all in his stride. The great thing about Zak is all the noise genuinely doesn’t bother him,” he said.

“All he’s thinking about is how he’s perceived in the dressing room bubble. To captain the side and billed as that leader is a great opportunity for him and he’ll enjoy it.

“He’s got a great sense of humour, which a lot people don’t get to see, and he’s very relaxed. That’s what you want from your leaders: not too up, not too down. It’s a short spell for him in charge but he has a good cricket brain and I think he’ll transfer that to the team.”

Crawley’s fearless approach in the Ashes – from cracking the first ball of the series for four, through to his unforgettable 189 at Old Trafford – personified the dynamic style of cricket England have pursued under the guidance of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

The thrills and spills of the series captured the imagination of the nation’s sporting public and Collingwood has been out spreading the gospel, taking part in a school coaching session at the Kia Oval in partnership with Play Their Way and the Chance to Shine charity.

“We could feel the Ashes reeled in a lot of news fans to the game and a lot of that is down to how these guys play the game,” said Collingwood.

“It’s vitally important we keep kids interested when they start to play and make it fun for them. When I was a kid there was a lot of emphasis straight away on defensive technique and caution. But these sessions are about educating coaches on what the kids want out of a session, not the other way around. We want them to hit the ball hard, enjoy it and hopefully stay in cricket.”

:: To learn more about the campaign, access resources and sign up to join the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach our children and young people visit www.playtheirway.org.

Pep Guardiola has challenged his Manchester City side to achieve something special and win back-to-back Champions League titles.

The treble winners begin the defence of their European crown as they host Red Star Belgrade at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

City finally put years of near-misses behind them to win the competition for the first time last season but, while Guardiola is proud of their achievements, he feels their mission is not yet over.

The City manager said at a press conference: “I’d like to say that for our club to win the Champions League is incredible – the first time in our history – but, in perspective, how many teams have won the Champions League once?

“A lot have won two, three, four, five. In perspective, we did nothing special. It’s just one.

“Let’s go. Let’s try to win tomorrow against a team so aggressive, so fast up front.”

Guardiola is viewing the challenge as nothing different to past seasons, although he accepts the pressure of trying to defend the trophy will be easier than when trying to win it for the first time.

“It’s most difficult to win the first one,” he said. “But every season we start the competition in the first game with the target to win the first game, then the group stage, then try to win the Champions League. Nothing changes from before.

“The same for Red Star tomorrow. It depends on our performance and our level.

“We’re incredibly happy to defend this crown but this competition doesn’t allow you mistakes.

“But always we were so strong at home, nine points from nine. When that happens you can win just one game away and you qualify. Tomorrow is the first step.”

City reached the European summit, and capped a glorious treble, when they beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the final in Istanbul in June.

Yet the club have not sat back and dwelt on their success, adding the UEFA Super Cup and starting the new Premier League campaign with five successive wins.

Guardiola admits he has not even watched back the final, which was won with a single goal from Rodri.

He said: “People say we won it and it’s done. It’s not done. They’re happy, we’re happy. Every time we come here, people take pictures with the four trophies.

“That makes us so happy, you cannot deny, but if I wanted to live for the memories I wouldn’t be here. I’d be at home or on a beach.

“I didn’t watch the game, no. Not at all. The competition gives us a new challenge so let’s at least try – and I don’t have any doubt we will try.”

Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has admitted his team’s start to the season has not been good enough as they prepare to host Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League opener on Tuesday.

PSG have won just two of their opening five league games and suffered their first defeat on Friday when they were beaten 3-2 at home by Nice, leaving the reigning champions three points behind leaders Monaco.

Having taken charge in the summer, Enrique admits he is still getting used to his new side so has no cause for concern about developments so far, and promised that improved performances and results will start to come.

He told a press conference: “It is true it hasn’t been a great start, but when I start coaching a club, there is a lot of information I take in, a lot of situations to bear in mind.

“I have a very receptive team that is full of desire to take on new ideas, I am delighted with the conduct of the players and the team. The fans are fantastic, bringing total unconditional support, despite not so good results.

“It is a long process and from my experience I know it takes time. I am not wasting time because I already know how this works. I am very calm here, we will certainly be playing good football and getting good results.”

PSG have been among the favourites to win the Champions League in recent seasons but will be without some notable names this time around, with star forwards Lionel Messi and Neymar having left this summer while experienced midfielder Marco Verratti joined Al-Arabi last week.

The perennial Ligue 1 champions have yet to win the competition but came close in 2020, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final. They also reached the semi-final the following year but since then the big-spending French giants have fallen short of expectations with round of 16 exits in successive years.

Enrique still holds hope of bringing the trophy back to Paris but does not want to become obsessed over the idea.

He added: “We will have to see how the competition goes, football is a marvellous sport.

“Any result is possible, and in theory, any team can win. You can play well and lose. You might play badly and win. As a club we are convinced and motivated in every competition we are taking part in.

“The aim is to go as far as possible and try to win all of them. That is the objective of this club, it is ambitious.

“When a person or a team or club is obsessed with something, it is not a good sign. You need to be excited, you have to have hope and ambition. But being obsessed doesn’t work in any part of life.

“So we are excited and motivated. We are full of desire to put on a show for our fans, and we are looking forward to the start of this competition.”

Enrique thinks their defeat to Nice has little to do with their upcoming European encounter with Dortmund, who are unbeaten themselves in the league so far.

Edin Terzic’s men are seventh in the Bundesliga with eight points from four games, sitting two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen following Saturday’s 4-2 win at Freiburg.

The Spaniard said: “The Nice game has nothing to do with the Dortmund game. They are different games in different competitions.

“There are many areas for improvement and many things of the team are doing well. I think the most important thing is what the fans can see, which is the team’s attitude. We don’t give up.”

Nat Phillips trained with the Celtic squad ahead of their Champions League opener against Feyenoord.

The on-loan Liverpool defender saw his debut cut short on Saturday when he rolled his ankle towards the end of the first half against Dundee.

Phillips was replaced by Gustaf Lagerbielke at half-time, although he was only scheduled to play an hour in his first appearance since his loan move.

Liam Scales is Brendan Rodgers’ other recognised centre-back option with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Stephen Welsh and Maik Nawrocki missing through injury.

Scales has started each of the last three matches and helped Celtic keep clean sheets against St Johnstone, Rangers and Dundee.

Rodgers’ squad trained at Celtic Park before flying out to the Netherlands on Monday afternoon ahead of Tuesday’s clash at the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam.

Live In The Dream will head to America to acclimatise ahead of his Breeders’ Cup tilt with a run in the $350,000 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland.

The flying four-year-old proved appropriately named at York when storming to success in the Nunthorpe and booking his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in the process – setting up a trip of a lifetime to Santa Anita for enthusiastic connections who were all tasting big-race success for the first time.

However, before the main event in California on November 4, trainer Adam West has elected to give his thriving speedster an early taste of the action Stateside and Live In The Dream will head to Kentucky on October 7 for a contest won in the past two years by Wesley Ward’s Golden Pal.

West said: “We can’t rely on getting any good ground in the Abbaye and we think the experience out in America – the bell, the stalls they have, the pace they set, a turning track – will hold him in better stead for the Breeders’ Cup.

“The race itself is five and a half furlongs so we’re not expecting to do serious damage there, but the experience for him in that racing style will be invaluable. If we’re leading them at the half-furlong marker then we’ll know we have a really good chance in the big race.”

West reports the Prince Of Lir gelding to be in tip-top form following his exploits on the Knavesmire and with excitement building ahead of the upcoming cross-Atlantic raids, he hopes an outing at Keeneland will help keep a lid on his charge ahead of his main target four weeks later.

“He’s been thriving ever since the Nunthorpe, he’s been really, really well,” added West.

“I’ve just been trying to switch him off a little bit actually so that the next race can bring him on. It’s very hard to keep something at its maximum for as long as the two races (Nunthorpe and Breeders’ Cup) are separated, so hopefully this will do the trick.

“It’s very exciting and we can’t wait.”

Newcastle return to the Champions League group stage for the first time in two decades on Tuesday night.

The Magpies travel to San Siro, where they take on AC Milan before facing PSG and Borussia Dortmund in their remaining Group F fixtures.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the last time Newcastle were in Europe’s premier club competition back in 2002-03.

First Group Stage

After qualifying for the competition with a fourth-placed finish in the previous Premier League season, Newcastle reached the first group stage of the tournament where they were drawn against Dynamo Kiev, Feyenoord and Juventus in Group E.
Their opening fixture against Dynamo Kiev ended in defeat at the Olympic Stadium in Ukraine’s capital as Maksim Shatskikh and Alyaksandr Khatskevich gave the hosts the advantage, while captain Alan Shearer came away with four stitches in his head following a challenge from Andriy Husin.

Sebastian Pardo’s fourth-minute volley condemned the Magpies to further Champions League misery the following week in a home fixture against Feyenoord in an end-to-end clash which saw goalkeeper Edwin Zoetebier make several fantastic saves to deny the hosts.

Their third game against Juventus kept them rooted to the bottom of the group without a point after suffering a 2-0 defeat with two goals from Alessandro Del Piero, and with three successive defeats under their belts Newcastle needed something drastic to salvage their European hopes.

Sir Bobby Robson’s side did just that, starting with Juve again at St James’ Park as full-back Andy Griffin got the ball rolling when his shot was turned into the net by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for the Tynesiders to edge to a 1-0 win.

Next up was a home fixture against Dynamo Kiev and they bounced back from Shatskikh’s opener when Gary Speed’s header brought the scores level before Shearer slotted the ball home from the penalty spot to secure a 2-1 win.

Needing nothing but a win against Feyenoord to stand a chance of progressing to the next stage, the scores were tied going into the final minutes and Craig Bellamy struck in injury time for Newcastle to secure a dramatic second-placed finish in Group E to reach the next phase of the competition.

Second Group Stage

The Magpies were drawn into Group A for the next stage of the competition and got off to a shaky start as three first-half goals set Inter Milan up to win 4-1 in the opening group fixture.

Robson’s return to the Nou Camp ended in defeat the following game as goals from Dani, Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta were enough for Barcelona to beat the Magpies 3-1 as the hosts earned a record 10th successive Champions League victory.

The Newcastle boss then celebrated his 70th birthday in style as his side kept their chances alive with a 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen as Shola Ameobi’s double put them ahead before Franca pulled one back and Lomana LuaLua restored the two-goal cushion.

Shearer returned from suspension with a quick-fire hat-trick against the German side in the reverse fixture on Tyneside, heading home twice within six minutes in the opening stages before smashing the ball past Jorg Butt from the spot.

Six points against Leverkusen gave Newcastle hope for the remaining games against Inter and Barcelona and their tie at San Siro ended in a 2-2 draw as goals from Bellamy and Shearer were cancelled out by Christian Vieri and Ivan Cordoba.

Challenging for a quarter-final spot, the Magpies’ European dream was ended at St James’ Park by the LaLiga giants, who had already booked their spot in the final eight prior to the match, as Kluivert and Motta scored for the visitors, meaning Newcastle finished third in the group.

The following season the Tynesiders reached the third qualifying round of the competition, but fell to a 4-3 penalty defeat against Partizan Belgrade after the match ended 1-1 on aggregate.