Righto, that’s it from me, at the end of another frankly outrageous evening of association football. Thanks for your company and comments; peace out.

Iraola is chatting to TNT, saying he loved the occasion and that he takes some responsibility for the first-half performance, having not predicted Atleti’s 3-5-2; he corrected halfway through the first half.

He’s happy he side showed character, but they’ve difficult homes and nasty aways, so there’s a lot to do. Barcola, he advises, had cramp, an absolute result, and he goes on to say this is a new team without the mechanisms in which every player knows what to do in every situation.

On Araujo, Iraola says he has good crossing ability, is good in the air and smart with his decision-making. Players like Frimpong and Tsimikas have’t played much, so are probably disappointed, but they contributed tonight.

“Iraolaball has started rolling, slowly but steadily,” reckons Rupak Pramanik. “This Liverpool looked a lot like the Liverpool opponents feared during the Klopp era.”

Generous, I’d say – they were very vulnerable in the first half and the players just aren’t as good as those Klopp had, nor have they the physicality to play at the same tempo. But they played some decent stuff in parts.

Six additional minutes at Stamford Bridge, enough time for Chelsea to score and concede at least another couple. If they can get the defence and midfield right, in January and in the summer, they could be very nasty next season.

Oh Haitch! I’m afraid I’m chalking off all 73 goals for these offences against common decency.

Chelsea are going to be a lot of fun this season – not words said often, but their attack is a serious problem, likewise their defence.

Five minutes of injury-time at Anfield and we’ve had three of them.

Munoz, on as sub, breaks into the Atleti box and diddles his man by dipping infield, only to shoot too close to Oblak, who palms out Frimpong is there to ram home the rebound, but was offside when the intial shot was taken.

“Couple of Scottish Premier games tonight,” advises Simon McMahon – yes I’ve got them on my vidiprinter. “Rangers scoring in stoppage time to defeat St. Mirren by a goal to nil, while Celtic are leading by the same score at St. Johnstone with five minutes to go. The teams meet in the Scottish League Cup quarter=final on Sunday. Expect handshakes, pats on the back and general bonhomie all round fireworks.”

Grown-men action looks inevitable, even though away fans have been banned.

It’s been a quieter second half at Anfield – well, since the flurry at the start of it, when Liverpool scored their second goal. Atleti were really dangerous in the first, but have been largely shut down – and have, I think, missed Lee, who was hooked.

Incidentally, I love The Prestige, Christopher Nolan’s best film by a mile, in mine – it has blather and keks, which I don’t always find to be the case with him.

“There’s something uncanny about this PSG, as if they’re not fully synced up with reality,” says Kári Tulinius. “I can’t think of many teams that have had me entirely lose track of what’s going on, where the players and the ball just aren’t where they should be. At the risk of spoiling the movie The Prestige, while other sides are working within the parameters of the real, the Parisians seem to have found technology that allows them to break the bounds of physical space.”

They’re kind of the next version of Guardiola’s Barca, every player a technician but not, as you intimate, part of a system that tells them where to be and when; rather, they’re trusted to make sure that somebody is.

The true heir to Jesus Navas.

I wonder what Enzo Maresca and Thomas Tuchel are making of Palmer so far this season. Every serious squad needs a maverick or two, and misunderstanding them says more about the managers than the players.

Alonso, by the way, brought on Palmer, Neto, James and Rogers at half-time.

At Anfield, Barcola has hurt himself, a left hamstring I think. It doesn’t look awful, but it is enough to end his evening, Frimpong replacing him.

Are Paris already an all-time great team? It’s tricky because there are no top-level domestic opponents, so not loads of vintage big-game performances that take up residence in the soul. But if they played in any other league, you’d be backing them to win it because they’re so well balanced, yet so unpredictable.

Phew, what starts to our halves.

WHAT A MISS! Lovely touch from Barcola,taking a pass from Wirtz and flicking it back before setting off through the middle. Wirttz then slides him in, he draws Oblak, slips it past him … and just past the post!

We’re away again in Paris.

…but it comes to nothing.

We’re off again at Anfield and immediately, Liverpool win a corner…

I said at the top that I don’t love Barcola’s finishing, and I don’t think one miss proves I’m right not to, but it was a poor effort, drilled at the keeper’s feet without much craft or cunning. What shouldn’t get lost as a consequence is the role of Kerkez, at fault for the Atleti goal but who played a defence-splitting pass to play him in. he’s not been good at Liverool so far, but perhaps Iraola, his manager at Bournemouth, can get the best out of him.

At Stamford Bridge, Leeds still lead Chelsea 1-0. I’ve not seen much of the action because there’s been so much going on elsewhere, but Leeds look comfortable.

This is a terrific game, and consternation is building, Isak fouled then forced to go off. We might, if we’re dreadfully unlucky, get scenes that NO ONE wants to see and, as I type, Szoboszlai volleys Lee as if to prove the point.

Barrios gets down the right and cuts back to the edge, but Baena can only shank wide of the far post.

I really like Ngumoha in tight spaces – there’s a purpose to everything he does, and I think he might be a better weapon against Atleti than Barcola, more of a big-space player. He jinks past a couple of men looks to play into the box and follows his pass; he’s crowded out, but he’s got the right idea.

At Stamford Bridge, it’s still 0-0, likewise at the Diego Maradona.

Better from Liverpool, Ngumoha bursting past his man at inside-left and finding Isak nearby,. He floats a cross to the far post, and Wirtz is there … but though he makes decent connection, he shoots straight at Oblak … then the flag goes up.

It’s incredible that Liverpool spent so much money this summer and opted not to strengthen in defence or defensive midfield. I know Jacquet joined, but he’s young, and they spent nearly £200m on attackers last summer. I can’t see how they can win a big pot this season, and the errors were so glaring and obvious, they’re negligent.

Araujo lofts down the line and Barcola, running in behind, takes a difficult ball down beautifully but, with no one in support, all he can do is shoot into the keeper’s body.

The ball moves across the face of the Liverpool box and Lee dummies, Baena shaping to shoot … and wellying miles of the top, with a clear lane in front of him. Simeone, sporting his usual delicate shade of black, finds it as amusing as you’d expect.

PSG have changed the hue of their kit – it’s more royal than navy blue now, and is, you have to say, pretty popping.

You can follow Napoli v Arsenal with Scott Murray, here:

In Paris, PSG are knocking it about as they do, but without creating much so far. Bratislava are, of course, coached by Yaya Toure, the first African to manage a Champions League side; yes really, and note where he’s started too. I’ll be posting a snap of his rig as soon as I’ve access to one.

Ah, Barcola is playing down the right with Ngumoha on the left. That makes sense, I think, as the former will help Liverpool keep maximum width and skate around the outside, while the latter is a young player with a greater need to fill a familiar position.

Kick-off at Stamford Bridge has been delayed by 15 minutes because of travel difficulties. By way of consolation, here’s something to read about the historical enmity.

Pretty much from kick-off, Szoboszlai drives through the middle and slips to Isak on the right side of the; this is a chance … but he drags his shot wide of the far post.

“Liverpool v Atlético will be a fixture that will forever remind many of us as the last match before the world closed down,” says Justin Kavanagh. “That pre- Covid game was a humdinger, I recall. However, I hope there are no world-threatening toxins wafting out the windows of chez Harris tonight, courtesy of that 24-hour-old chicken soup of yours, Daniel? You did wash down the counters before and after you slaughtered that chicken right?”

The soup is on the heat getting tasty, but yes, by the time that Liverpool v Atleti fixture happened, it was impossible to believe it was happening. As Groove Armada might’ve said, they were Superspreadin’.

As for Atleti, I’d not be surprised to see them target Araujo, playing out of position, looking to spring forward while blocking up the centre of the pitch. I daresay Alvarez thinks he’s got the legs on Van Dijk, Lee too, so I’d not be surprised to see them drifting around the inexperienced Jacquet, before looking to run at the old man.

So where is our main game tonight? Liverpool will, I think, look to stretch Atleti, especially down their left, where Kerkez and Barcola will look to double-up. On the right, I fear Ngumoha may be isolated, playing on the wrong side and with Araujo, a centre-back, behind him. Wietz, though, may be instructed to mooch over that way to help out.

Email! “With the caveat that Stuttgart were playing the less-fancied of two Norwegian clubs,” begins Kári Tulinius. “I can’t help but be thrilled for Ermedin Demirovic. He’s never been particularly fancied, but he’s a hard worker, a leader on the pitch, and now he’s got a Champions League match ball to put on his mantlepiece. He’d only scored two goals in European before tonight, so he more than doubled his personal tally.”

Yup, no one can ever take that away from him.

Those of you who followed last evening might recall my discussing my chicken soup. Well, to allay any fears, it’s still in the oven, can be smelled from outside, and I’m drinking the air.

Another midfielder who made his Chelsea debut at a sillily young age, Billy Gilmour, is in the middle of the Napoli midfield tonight; the King of Naples, Scott McTominay, is still recovering having had an op to resolve an irregular heartbeart. Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, rewards the diligence and impact of Mikel Merino, handing him a start at the base of midfield, and Viktor Gyokeres is also allowed a game having fallen out of favour; Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka start, as they pretty much always do.

At Chelsea, Xabi Alonso has made nine changes, the most notable his granting of a debut to 16-year-old Reggie Watson, son of Ben, formerly of Wigan and scorer of the winning goal in the 2013 FA Cup final.

In Barcelona, by the way, Shaqueel van Persie has come on for Feyenoord, making his European debut. Any idea who his old fella is?

On which point, have you seen Liam van Nistelrooy’s running gait?

Back with the actual football, it’s now Barca 5-1 Feyenoord, goals for Lamine Yamal, Gabriel Jesus – he mustn’t be able to believe his luck getting that move – with Sem Steijn bagging the consolation.

The headline news is that Bradley Barcola starts for Liverpool, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on in this particular contest. Running into space, he’s brilliant, but is he deft enough and a good enough finisher to make a difference against a defence like Atleti’s?

I’m also keen to find out if Diego Simeone can terrify some responsibility into Cristian Romero; how Julian Alvarez manages having aggravated the fans by seeking a move to Barcelona; and f Lee Kang-in can find space. I’d also hoped to get a proper look at Morten Hjulmand in a game like this, but he’s on the bench.

Also going on…

Not bad, eh?

Phew, there’s a lot to digest there, but before we do…

Nope, the Feyenoord goal has been chalked off for offside, early in the move.

Right, let’s get the teams in our 8pm games – though Feyenoord have just pulled a goal back.

Ah, Raphinha has scored his second and Barca’s third – Pedri with the classy assist, a ball rolled through the middle exactly where he wants it, enabling him to move it away form the defender. That’s eight goals he’s got so far this season, in five games, and he’s looking like quite the centre-forward.

In our early games, Barcelona are 2-0 up at home to Feyenoord and and Stuttgart lead Viking 3-1.