Nick Ames

If Paris Saint-Germain take an early lead at Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday they may wonder whether to stick or twist. The new Champions League format has, at least in part, been designed to ensure Europe’s superpowers have fewer opportunities to fail, so their position risks embarrassment. They will not even qualify for the playoff round in February unless they improve on 25th place and, with three league-phase games remaining, are two points and three goals shy of the cutoff.

Club Brugge: Mignolet, Seys, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper, Nwadike, Jashari, Skov Olsen, Vanaken, Tzolis, Jutgla. Substitutes: Jackers, Romero, Vetlesen, Vermant, Nilsson, Nielsen, Spileers, Sabbe, Talbi.

Sporting: Israel, Quaresma, Diomande, Inacio, Quenda, Hjulmand, Simoes, Araujo, Trincao, Catamo, Gyokeres. Substitutes: Kovacevic, Callai, Matheus Reis, St Juste, Debast, Edwards, Harder, Fresneda, Ricardo Esgaio, Brito, Couto, Arreiol.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

Bayer Leverkusen: Kovar, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie, Mukiele, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo, Frimpong, Wirtz, Tella. Substitutes: Hradecky, Lomb, Andrich, Terrier, Arthur, Schick, Garcia, Stepanov, Onyeka, Belocian.

Inter Milan: Sommer, Bisseck, de Vrij, Bastoni, Darmian, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Carlos Augusto, Thuram, Taremi. Substitutes: Josep Martinez, Calligaris, Arnautovic, Lautaro Martinez, Buchanan, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Barella, Dimarco, Aidoo.

Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

RB Salzburg: Schlager, Capaldo, Dedic, Samson Baidoo, Guindo, Bidstrup, Gourna-Douath, Gloukh, Yeo, Ratkov, Dorgeles. Substitutes: Oelz, Hamzic, Terzic, Blank, Okoh, Bajcetic, Clark, Diambou, Kawamura, Daghim, Mellberg.

PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Neves, Vitinha, Fabian, Lee, Goncalo Ramos, Barcola. Substitutes: Safonov, Tenas, Asensio, Doue, Hernandez, Muani, Zaire Emery, Lucas Beraldo, Skriniar, Zague.

Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

Brest: Bizot, Le Cardinal, Chardonnet, Niakhate Ndiaye, Haidara, Camara, Fernandes, Magnetti, Del Castillo, Balde, Doumbia. Substitutes: Coudert, Jauny, Lala, Camblan, Sima, Amavi, Pereira Lage, Salah, Irie.

PSV: Benitez, Karsdorp, Flamingo, Boscagli, Dams, Saibari, Junior, Tillman, Bakayoko, de Jong, Lang. Substitutes: Drommel, Schiks, Obispo, Pepi, Til, Schouten, Veerman, Lozano, Oppegard, Ledezma.

Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain)

Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac, Bellanova, de Roon, Ederson Silva, Ruggeri, Pasalic, De Ketelaere, Lookman. Substitutes: Rui Patricio, Rossi, Toloi, Kossounou, Godfrey, Zaniolo, Samardzic, Palestra, Retegui, Brescianini, Zappacosta.

Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Garcia, Diaz, Ceballos, Valverde, Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior. Substitutes: Lunin, Mestre, Modric, Rodrygo, Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Lekhedim, Asencio, Andres.

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Geertruida, Orban, Seiwald, Henrichs, Baumgartner, Vermeeren, Haidara, Nusa, Sesko, Openda. Substitutes: Vandevoordt, Klostermann, Andre Silva, Sakar, Jatta, Kampl, Gebel.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, Cash, McGinn, Rogers, Watkins. Substitutes: Gauci, Olsen, Mings, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Philogene-Bidace, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Onana, Bogarde, Swinkels.

Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)

Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk, Konoplya, Bondar, Matviyenko, Ghram, Marlon Gomes, Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Kevin, Sikan. Substitutes: Fesyun, Traore, Stepanenko, Eguinaldo, Kryskiv, Shved, Azarovi, Augusto, Nazaryna, da Silva Pedrinho, Newerton, Faryna.

Bayern Munich: Peretz, Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro, Kimmich, Goretzka, Olise, Musiala, Sane, Muller. Substitutes: Schmitt, Dier, Ibrahimovic, Boey, Irankunda, Aseko-Nkili, Tel, Pavlovic, Aznou, Klanac.

Referee: Halil Meler (Turkey)

“Absorbing” is a term often used by commentators when trying to be nice about an indifferent match. So let’s also call this new-fangled Champions League format absorbing.

Tonight’s tranche of fixtures is headlined by Atalanta v Real Madrid along with Bayer Leverkusen v Inter – unless you happen to be an Aston Villa fan, in which case, the Villans’ away trip to RB Leipzig will be commanding your attention.

Brest v PSV, Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich and Club Brugge v Sporting are also on the menu, while there is jeopardy for Paris Saint-Germain in their away date with RB Salzburg. Luis Enrique’s men desperately need to add to their one win from five matches thus far.

I’ll endeavour to bring you all the goals as they go in. Are you not absorbed? Allez! Or, as we say in England, Go!

Kick-off: 8pm