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.
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Kimmich ready to open Bayern Munich talks amid Barcelona speculation
Joshua Kimmich is ready to open talks with Bayern Munich over his future at the club amid speculation linking him with Barcelona.
The Germany international has spent nine years at the Allianz Arena, but he is due to become a free agent at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Barca have been repeatedly linked with Kimmich in recent transfer windows and are said to retain an interest ahead of next season.
Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, the midfielder talked up Barca - as well as fierce rivals Real Madrid - but fell short of saying he is open to a move.
"I want to talk to Bayern. When I do that, I won't go out and talk to the press about it," he said.
"I'm not thinking about this. I will speak to Bayern first. But of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amazing clubs with an amazing history."
Kimmich has played 37 times in all competitions this season for Bayern, whose last remaining hope of silverware is in the Champions League.
Bayern will face Real Madrid over two legs for a place in the final, with the first match in that double-header taking place in Bavaria on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel will depart the dethroned Bundesliga champions at the end of the season, with Ralf Rangnick the favourite to succeed him.
The managerial uncertainty is not helping with regards to the Kimmich rumours, but he insists that will not be a deciding factor on his future.
"It's not the most important thing right now," he said. "I know that when you sign a contract you don't sign it with the coach.
"You sign it with the club. For me, the most important thing is the club, not just the coach.
"But it's also important to know what the coach thinks about you and the team. Other people in the club can worry about choosing the coach."
Desailly calls on LaLiga to do more to protect Vinicius Junior
Marcel Desailly has called on LaLiga to do more to protect Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and other players who have been targeted by racist abuse.
Vinicius broke down at a press conference earlier this month as he opened up about the abuse he has received from the stands while representing Madrid.
The Brazil international is not alone in that regard, with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni another example, and World Cup winner Desailly wants more to be done.
"Vinicius has spoken out, but it's not about him - it's about LaLiga and the people who can take action," he told Stats Perform.
"We have the power to change things, but we are not doing enough. Samuel Eto'o had the same issue before.
"Vinicius is one of those who is suffering because the administrative people in charge are not willing to hit harder than they are."
Vinicius has been a key player for LaLiga champions-elect Madrid once again this season with 13 goals and five assists in 23 outings.
Desailly regards Vinicius, who scored the winning goal in the 2022 Champions League final, as one of the finest players of his generation.
"He's a very ambitious player," Desailly said. "I think he's improved a lot because he is now clinical in assisting and finishing.
"When you look at someone like Ousmane Dembele, his stats are not as good.
"Then you look at Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, another who has improved - there is potential for each of those to get close to Vinicius."
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