Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign with a clash against Serie A side, and last season’s Europa League winners, Atalanta away from home.
It’s a tricky start to the newly revamped competition for Mikel Arteta’s men but they will be confident about securing all three points despite a growing injury list. Arsenal have started the season with three wins and a draw from their first four Premier League matches and are in good touch ahead of this European outing.
In comparison, Atalanta have made an mixed start to their own domestic campaign. Two wins and two defeats perhaps points to a lack of consistency but they are difficult opponents to overcome. The Italians beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final to end the Germans’ unbeaten run for the campaign and win their first trophy since the 2011 Serie B title.
Arteta is hoping to add to Arsenal’s trophy cabinet this season and has eyes on the biggest European prize but to do so the Gunners will need to set down a marker tonight.
Follow all the action from the Champions League with our live blog below:
Atalanta vs Arsenal LIVE: Latest Champions League updates
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Arsenal begin Champions League campaign at Atalanta | Kick-off is at 8pm
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Gunners reached quarter-finals last season but lost to Bayern Munich
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Atalanta won the Europa League last season for first European honour
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Arsenal without Martin Odegaard again ahead of Man City trip on Sunday
Mikel Arteta’s tactical tweaks have built an Arsenal side capable of winning the Champions League
18:10 , Chris Wilson
In some of the difficult early seasons in north London, and even when things started to pick up and there was interest elsewhere, there was a particular motivation that drove Mikel Arteta. That was to become the first manager to win the Champions League for Arsenal. While returning the Premier League trophy to the club has obviously been just as high, Europe’s greatest prize was repeatedly mentioned. There would obviously be something unique, and euphoric, about achieving that. You only had to see the glee on his face when Arsenal finally got back into the Champions League again last season. It was visible once more on Wednesday night, as he spoke about preparing for the Atalanta game and the heightened stage.
This is where the club belongs.
It is by now a well-worn discussion to ponder whether Arsenal are the biggest club to never win the Champions League, especially since it’s probably true. It also remains remarkable that London clubs as a whole only have two, both through Chelsea’s victories under Roman Abramovich in 2012 and 2021, respectively.
Mikel Arteta’s tactical tweaks have built a side that can win the Champions League
The new Champions League sets up a high-stakes game in football’s ‘turning point’
18:00 , Chris Wilson
When Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin attends the first games of the new Champions League this week, it will be with a considerable security detail. This has led to grumbles from federation staff, especially since very few people outside football know what he even looks like. There have probably only been two moments when the Slovenian official was properly in the public eye.
One was when the Super League was launched in April 2021 and Ceferin admirably defended the spirit of European football in a defiant media appearance, all while lambasting executives as “snakes” and “liars”. Less publicised from that day was the fact Uefa were also in the process of approving the changes to the Champions League we are going to see enacted this week.
This directly led to the second time, as Ceferin was inexplicably put front and centre of Uefa’s launch video at the group-stage draw. There was no doubting who the star was supposed to be, given there were even jokes at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s expense. The many actual football stars in the video weren’t given anything like the same status.
The new Champions League sets up a high-stakes game in football’s ‘turning point’
Why are Arsenal playing Atalanta in the Champions League on a Thursday?
17:40 , Chris Wilson
The Champions League is back for 2024/25 and Arsenal head to Bergamo to kick-off their continental campaign, but there is one unusual aspect about their first fixture.
In fact, given it’s an entirely new format for the European calendar after Uefa’s sweeping reforms of how the elite clubs will compete, there’s lots which is unusual, starting with the fact this is one of eight league-phase fixtures the Gunners will play, rather than six.
To spread focus around the other competitions – the Europa League and Conference League are both following the wider format of one enormous league system from this year – Uefa declared that each competition will have a single gameweek when they are the only European competition playing.
As such, rather than nine games on Tuesday and nine on Wednesday – which will be the case for matchday two on 1 and 2 October, then again for matchdays three to seven – the first round of games in the Champions League will be split across three nights.
Why are Arsenal playing Atalanta in the Champions League on a Thursday?
New-look Champions League shows football’s biggest problem right from the start
17:20 , Chris Wilson
After such a grand build-up, the new Champions League’s opening night didn’t exactly suggest new excitement – or much unpredictability at all. Every single one of the pre-match favourites won. At least five of them, and arguably six, did so in a very comfortable manner. Bayern Munichwent beyond comfort. They eviscerated Dinamo Zagreb 9-2, a result that should be very damaging for a launch night. It was worse than what came before.
Even if you argue that game at the Allianz was a mismatch that the competition itself is supposed to help in bridging, well, you only have to look at the night’s marquee fixture. Liverpool breezed past Milan in a 3-1that could have been a 6-1. Rather than a grand restaging of previous finals between historic giants, it was merely a showcase of profound modern problems with the game’s economic framework.
The Champions League itself, of course, has been a powerful engine in creating this disparity. It’s another reason this doesn’t bode well.
New-look Champions League shows football’s biggest problem right from the start
Arsenal’s UCL fixtures
17:05 , Chris Wilson
Here’s a breakdown of Arsenal’s confirmed fixtures in this year’s revamped Champions League format.
19 September
20:00 Atalanta – Arsenal
1 October
20:00 Arsenal – Paris Saint-Germain
22 October
20:00 Arsenal – FC Shakhtar Donetsk
6 November
20:00 FC Internazionale Milano – Arsenal
26 November
20:00 Sporting Clube de Portugal – Arsenal
11 December
20:00 Arsenal – AS Monaco
22 January
20:00 Arsenal – GNK Dinamo
29 January
20:00 Girona FC – Arsenal
Today’s Champions League matches
16:50 , Chris Wilson
(All times BST)
17:45 Feyenoord v Bayer 04 Leverkusen – TNT Sports 2
17:45 FK Crvena Zvezda v SL Benfica – TNT Sports 4
20:00 Atalanta BC v Arsenal FC – TNT Sports 1
20:00 AS Monaco v FC Barcelona – TNT Sports 2
20:00 Atlético de Madrid v RB Leipzig – TNT Sports 4
20:00 Stade Brestois 29 v SK Sturm Graz – TNT Sports 5
Where to watch every Champions League fixture on TV this week
16:40 , Chris Wilson
The first round of the new-look Champions League kicks off this week, with a fresh 36-team league format replacing the old group stage.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic are all involved in the first season of the new format, which will take place across eight gameweeks.
The first gameweek sees City host Inter in a rematch of the 2023 final, Liverpool travel to AC Milan, Arsenal visit Atalanta, Celtic play Slovan Bratislava and Aston Villa mark their first Champions League appearance against Young Boys.
there will be a new broadcaster in the UK, with Amazon Prime Video holding rights for one match a week under a new TV agreement. The streaming service will have the top pick each Tuesday, with TNT Sports broadcasting the other matches.
Where to watch every Champions League fixture on TV this week
Martin Odegaard out for ‘a while’ with ‘significant’ ankle injury as Arsenal suffer injury blow
16:25 , Chris Wilson
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after a scan showed “significant” damage to his ankle.
The midfielder suffered the injury on international duty with Norway and missed Sunday’s north London derby win at Tottenham.
Boss Mikel Arteta gave a gloomy update on Odegaard’s condition ahead of Thursday night’s Champions League clash with Atalanta in Italy.
“The scan showed some damage around the ligaments in the ankle so we are going to miss him,” said Arteta.
“It’s something quite significant so we are going to lose him for a while. Hopefully not months.”
Martin Odegaard out for ‘a while’ with ‘significant’ ankle injury
Atalanta vs Arsenal predicted line-ups
16:15 , Chris Wilson
ATA – Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac, Bellanova, Pasalic, Ederson, Ruggeri, Lookman, De Ketelaere, Retegui
ARS – Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Jorginho, Partey, Rice, Saka, Jesus, Trossard
What is the Atalanta team news?
16:12 , Chris Wilson
Atalanta are without a couple of major players including striker Gianluca Scamacca and centre-back Giorgio Scalvini. New addition Ben Godfrey will also miss out through injury and Rafael Toloi is a doubt.
What is the Arsenal team news?
16:10 , Chris Wilson
Arsenal are missing captain Martin Odegaard, new signing Mikel Merino and full-backs Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Declan Rice is available after a domestic suspension, but Riccardo Calafiori could miss out again.
When is Atalanta vs Arsenal?
16:05 , Chris Wilson
The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Thursday 19 September at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Where can I watch?
As with all Uefa competition matches, this game will be broadcast by TNT Sports. The match is on TNT Sports 1 and can be live streamed by subscribers on the Discovery+ app.
You can purchase a TNT Sports subscription via discovery+ here, for only £30.99 per month.
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Good afternoon
16:00 , Jamie Braidwood
Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign with a clash against Serie A side, and last season’s Europa League winners, Atalanta away from home.
It’s a tricky start to the newly revamped competition for Mikel Arteta’s men but they will be confident about securing all three points despite a growing injury list. Arsenal have started the season with three wins and a draw from their first four Premier League matches and are in good touch ahead of this European outing.
In comparison, Atalanta have made an mixed start to their own domestic campaign. Two wins and two defeats perhaps points to a lack of consistency but they are difficult opponents to overcome. The Italians beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final to end the Germans’ unbeaten run for the campaign and win their first trophy since the 2011 Serie B title.
Arteta is hoping to add to Arsenal’s trophy cabinet this season and has eyes on the biggest European prize but to do so the Gunners will need to set down a marker tonight.