Watch Champions League Match of the Day at top of page
Arsenal begin Champions League campaign with draw away to Atalanta
Raya makes extraordinary double save - including keeping out penalty - to earn Gunners draw
Monaco stun 10-man Barcelona, plus wins for Atletico Madrid & Brest
Teams that finish first to eighth after every team has played eight matches will advance to the last 16.
The teams that finish ninth to 24th will then be involved in the play-offs to try to join the other eight.
Any side that ends up between 25th and 36th will be eliminated.
This is what has happened in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday and also what is coming up tonight.
The Feyenoord v Bayer Leverkusen and Red Star Belgrade v Benfica matches start at 17:45 BST, with tonight's other four games all kicking-off at 20:00 BST.
Hello and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of tonight's Champions League action. We have updates from six matches, Radio 5 Live commentary of Atalanta v Arsenal, video goal highlights from 22:00 BST and the best of the match action plus analysis on BBC Two from 23:05 BST.
What a start it has been to the revamped Champions League with goals galore.
Normally we only have matches on Tuesday and Wednesday in this competition but today, for one week only, we have a bonus six Champions League games on Thursday too.
Those in action tonight include Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
Image source, Getty Images| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| |
6 Sparta Prague | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| |
10 Sporting CP | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
|
11 Benfica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
13 Brest | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| |
20 Bologna | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
21 Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| |
24 Sturm Graz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
25 Red Star Belgrade | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
|
26 Girona | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
|
27 PSV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
|
28 Stuttgart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| |
31 Club Brugge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
32 Red Bull Salzburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
33 Young Boys | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
|
34 Slovan Bratislava | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 |
|
35 Feyenoord | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
|
36 Dinamo Zagreb | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | -7 | 0 |
|
Manager: Gian Piero Gasperini
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: Gian Piero Gasperini
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
UEFA Champions League
All competitions
Atalanta have never previously faced Arsenal in any competition. The Gunners will be the fifth English side they have met in major European competition, after Everton (W2), Man City (D1 L1), Liverpool (W2 L2) and Man Utd (D1 L1).
Arsenal have lost their last three away UEFA Champions League games in Italy, although this is their first trip there since 2013. Those defeats came at Roma (0-1 in 2009), Milan (0-4 in 2012) and Napoli (0-2 in 2013).
Atalanta’s last four UEFA Champions League games – all in the 2021-22 group stage – have seen both them and their opponents score two or more goals (D2 L2). In the entire history of the European Cup, no side has ever both scored and conceded 2+ goals in five consecutive matches.
Arsenal have won their opening match in each of their last six major European campaigns (five in UEFA Europa League and last season’s Champions League). The last side to beat the Gunners in their first game was Dinamo Zagreb in the 2015-16 Champions League.
The 2023/24 UEFA Europa League final – won 3-0 by his side – was Gian Piero Gasperini’s 50th game in charge of Atalanta in major European competition (excluding qualifiers). Gasperini has won just under half of those (48%), with 24 victories from 50 matches (D14 L12).
Only Atlético Madrid (+6.16) overperformed their xG total by a higher figure than Arsenal in last season’s UEFA Champions League (+5.49 – 19 goals from an xG of 13.51), while the Gunners also posted the third-highest shot conversion rate in the competition last term (15.7%), behind only Manchester United (16.9%) and Atlético de Madrid (16.8%).
Atalanta’s 23 UEFA Champions League matches have seen 3.6 goals per game (40 for, 43 against), the second-most of any team to feature 20+ times in the competition, behind Viktoria Plzen (3.8 per game).
Bukayo Saka was involved in eight goals in nine UEFA Champions League appearances for Arsenal in 2023-24 (4 goals, 4 assists), the most by an Englishman in their debut season, breaking the record set by Lee Bowyer for Leeds United in 2000-01 (6 goals, 1 assist).
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman scored five times in his final three UEFA Europa League starts last season, including a hat-trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen. Lookman’s never scored in four career appearances against Arsenal, while his only UEFA Champions League appearance was in October 2019 for RB Leipzig against Zenit.
Raheem Sterling could make his UEFA Champions League debut for Arsenal in this game and would become the first player in European Cup history to play for four different English teams, having previously played for Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea. The other four players to play for three are David Batty (Leeds, Blackburn, Newcastle), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea), William Gallas (Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs) and Kolo Touré (Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool).
