The Warm-Up: Champions League! Champions League! Champions League!
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Updated 18/09/2018 at 07:34 GMT
Oh yes. It's back. And we're excited. Nick Miller takes you through the day ahead in football.
Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool speaks to the media during the Liverpool press conference at Melwood Training Ground on September 17, 2018 in Liverpool, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
The Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaampiiiioooooooooooonnnnnsss!
Yes! The Champions League is back, back, back baby! We can all kid ourselves that the bread and cheese of the Premier League is enough to keep us sustained, but the big pot is where we really start to enjoy ourselves. Champions League! Champions League! Champions League! It returns this evening, and with a bang too, with some belting games for us to enjoy from the English teams.
For last season’s losing finalists Liverpool begin with a home game against PSG, leading to Jurgen Klopp insisting that you can keep your Neymars, your Cavanis and your Mbappes, because he’s quite happy with what he’s got:
I love my players, all of them, so I don’t want to change anything; I wouldn’t change them.
Obviously, he wasn’t going to say anything else. But the prospect of Kylian Mbappe running riot in the space between the two promising but very green pair of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez is one that might keep Klopp up at night. Should be a smashing game, though.
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Jurgen Klopp guided Liverpool to the final last year
Image credit: PA Sport
As should Tottenham v Inter, recalling the night Gareth Bale torn the Nerazzurri a new one a few years ago, but it’s a very different Spurs that travel to Milan this time. And, to be fair, a very different Inter: but Mauricio Pochettino’s side will already be without Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli, plus both Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld have been left at home for “technical reasons”, whatever they might be. Pochettino said:
We need to use the whole squad. We came from different circumstances after the World Cup. We have a plan for different players to take rest in different competitions, like the Champions League. It is Kieran and Toby but it might be different players.
Basically: ‘they’re knackered, and Inter’s start to the season has been so ropey that we can beat them even with Serge Aurier at right-back. Meanwhile, Pochettino got a little…wordy.
Yessir: it is back. Get excited.
Southampton drop two points, Hughes drops his dignity
It was looking pretty good for Southampton for a while there. 2-0 up through a scorcher from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and a penalty by Danny Ings, they looked to be cruising to three points against a Brighton side most definitely off their game. But then Brighton clawed a goal back, Mark Hughes took off Ings in favour of Steven Davis and Southampton suddenly became frightened of their own shadow.
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Brighton's English striker Glenn Murray scores the penalty goal during the English Premier League football match between Southampton and Brighton at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, southern England on September 17, 2018.
Image credit: Getty Images
Naturally, a last-minute penalty ensued when Shane Duffy was bafflingly shoved to the ground, Glenn Murray equalised from the spot and Southampton threw away another couple of points. Chris Hughton, a man of perspective and dignity, said the award of both penalties was fair enough – because they were – but we’ll give you three guesses how Hughes responded. Although you’ll only need one.
“We’re a little disappointed with the penalty,” said Hughes. “He’s a big boy, the centre-half, and he’s gone down a bit easily.” Oh! What a stunning surprise that it turns out Southampton entirely soiling themselves and letting a victory slip between their fingers was not in fact Hughes’s fault, but someone else’s! What a shock that the referees were to blame! Who could possibly have seen this coming?!?!
Sit down, people, we have alarming news: Jack Wilshere is injured
Speaking of staggering shocks that nobody could have predicted, you won’t be seeing Jack Wilshere play football for a while. Wilshere had surgery on his ankle on Monday, and will be out for a non-specific, extended period of time, probably around six weeks.
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Jack Wilshere joined West Ham in the summer
Image credit: PA Sport
“Jack underwent successful surgery in London on Monday morning,” said Richard Collinge, West Ham’s head of medical. “The surgeon was happy with the procedure and all went as planned. We envisage he will only need a relatively short period of rest and will then start his rehabilitation. Jack is focused and determined to get back training as soon as possible.”
It’s tricky not to feel sorry for someone like Wilshere, whose talent will probably never be fully realised because of these ailments that continually knock his progress. You wondered whether a change of scenery would spruce up his career a bit, give him some fresh impetus, but alas not, it seems. It’s just more of the same.
IN OTHER NEWS
Lucky to get away with just a yellow card for that one.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: Lucas Perez
In a world where people needlessly jump to conclusions, and falsehoods are allowed to fester, fair play to Lucas Perez for clarifying that, no, he did not refuse to warm up during West Ham’s win over Everton on Sunday. The Warm-Up is delighted that he did indeed not refuse to warm-up. That simply would not do.
Zero: Mark Hughes
Sorry for labouring the point but…well, y’know.
RETRO CORNER
The last time PSG and Liverpool met was the semi-final of the 1996/97 Cup Winners’ Cup. Liverpool never fully recovered from this first leg, in which they were spanked 3-0 by a PSG side led by the very handsome Leonardo, who opened the scoring.
HAT TIP
To me, Vilanova’s success was a victory for those small people that history usually forgets. The ones who make the work of the genius possible. He came in and showed that the talent of Guardiola wasn’t his alone, it was shared between them, and that he was just as capable, if not more, at doing the same type of work.
Zito Madu remembers Tito Vilanova, who would have been 50 on Monday.
COMING UP
Beyond Tottenham and Liverpool, there are some other bangers in the Champions League. Barcelona face PSV, it’s Monaco v Atletico Madrid, Red Star Belgrade return to the big cup to face Napoli and Borussia Dortmund travel to Brugge. Pour yourself a lovely pint of Gazprom and get comfy.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Alex Chick, who likes his Gazprom straight up, on the rocks with a twist.
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