The Warm-Up: Leicester's European tour starts well, Tottenham do England impression at Wembley

Football’s news cycle is so relentless that it’s actually fairly difficult to enjoy nice things on their merits. Your team won! Oh cool, but now it’s 30 minutes later and you still didn’t sign a striker during the summer and what’s-his-name has a thigh strain and there’s a press conference starting and the financial figures coming out this afternoon are NOT going to go down well on Twitter.

Leicester’s success last term was in gestation for so long that, by the time they actually lifted the Premier League trophy, it felt a bit like the world had already moved on. The glitch in the matrix had been incorporated into the programme, reality already restructured.

Wednesday night, in a way, represented the opening of second-chance saloon as far as public appreciation of the Foxes is concerned. We have the chance to shake off the cynicism for a moment and celebrate this wonderful, home-spun side on what should already be seen as a victory lap.

Leicester! In the Champions League! Wes Morgan walking out to that theme tune! Riyad Mahrez rattling in free-kicks as mainland Europe looks on, agog! Jamie Vardy bathing in a lake of bubbling Gazprom! Danny Simpson fan clubs sprouting up in Switzerland and Sweden!

They’re not going to win it, but it’ll be fun. Again.

Playing home Champions League matches at Wembley worked out excellently for Arsenal in 1998/99 and 1999/2000 (if you don’t know the details, just take it on good faith and definitely don’t Google it), so you can understand why Spurs have opted to stage their games at the Home of Football while White Hart Lane is being expanded.

That decision was partly vindicated by an attendance of 85,000 for the visit of Monaco, but things did not quite go to plan on the field. Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar slammed home early goals and Tottenham, despite Toby Alderweireld pulling a goal back just before the interval, were unable to salvage a result.

Did the change in surroundings play a part? Former Spur Jermaine Jenas, on commentary duty for BT Sport, seemed to think so. “Tottenham lost something that White Hart Lane gives you on those European nights,” he said, channelling his inner Peter Drury. “The atmosphere wasn’t quite the same. It took a while for the players to get going.”

A lack of rhythm? Players not playing with the verve they usually display at weekends? A galling sense of untapped potential? No, that doesn’t sound like a team playing at Wembley at all.

After a 24-hour rain delay marked by embarrassing Twitter interactions, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach finally got down to business at the Etihad. Fittingly, it was a washout: with Sergio Aguero rampant, Pep Guardiola’s side barely needed to hit second gear en route to an easy win over a feeble Foals side.

Among a host of positives for City was the return from injury of Ilkay Gundogan, who managed 81 minutes on debut after being drafted in to replace David Silva. “He is so intelligent,” swooned Guardiola, who also saw Leroy Sane pick up his first assist for his new club.

Legia Warsaw are back in Europe’s premier club competition after a 20-year absence and their fans were clearly keen to make an impression last night, out-Dortmunding Dortmund with this vivid tifo at the Pepsi Arena.

Unfortunately, their players were not quite so prepared, conceding three times in the opening 18 minutes as Thomas Tuchel’s men cruised to a 6-0 victory.

Not fully fit, does nothing for most of the game, smacks home free-kick in dying moments to inspire improbable comeback. Just say yes.

Quick thought experiment. Imagine that you hold views that society deems to be broadly fascistic in nature. Imagine having landed yourself in hot water in the past by alluding to those views in public. Imagine being paid to work in the media. Imagine appearing on a television show with your tattoo paying tribute to one of human history’s most notorious fascists visible for all to see.

Congratulations! You’ve just conjured yourself into the mind of Paolo Di Canio, with whom Sky Italia “suspended their collaboration” on Wednesday after a rare sighting of his "dux" tattoo provoked a raft of complaints from viewers.

Over on VICE Sports, Will Magee has gone to remarkable lengths to assess the artistic merits of some of football’s most loved statues.

A fine effort, although The Warm-Up feels this legendary, face-melting prototype of a bust of former Brazil goalkeeper Marcos puts the other contenders to shame.

It’s the start of the Europa League proper, which means no fewer than 24 group games across three kick-off times. Qarabag and Slovan Liberec get things underway in somewhat underwhelming style at 4pm UK time, before a slew of games at 6pm, of which Feyenoord vs Manchester United is the pick.

At 8.05pm, UK interest lies with Southampton vs Sparta Prague, but perhaps more alluring is Nice vs Schalke. Mario Balotelli scored twice on his debut for the Ligue 1 side at the weekend and will be the star attraction at the Allianz Riviera.