Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

One of Xabi Alonso's biggest skills as a manager is his man-management; how you manage players, how you are in and around the building, are you honest with people? That what he was like as a player in and around the dressing room, he had time for everyone, young and old.

Image source, Getty Images

Rory Smith breaks down why Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso turned down Liverpool and Bayern Munich last summer, but could well end up as the next Real Madrid manager next summer.

Watch all the action from the Uefa Champions League on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app from 22:00 GMT on Wednesday 6 November.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter in Lisbon

Ruben Amorim’s final Sporting side for a home game shows two changes from the team that made it six wins in a row against Estrela on Friday. Former Coventry forward Viktor Gyokeres has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season. He is partnered in attack by Trincao, who had a year on loan at Wolves in 2021-22.

Sporting XI: Israel, Debast, Diomande, Matheus Reis, Geovany Quenda, Hjulmand, Morita, Araujo, Trincao, Gyokeres, Gonclaves.

Substitutes: Kovacevic, Diogo Pinto, St Juste, Edwards, Harder, Catamo, Fresneda, Braganca, Esgaio, Simoes, Quaresma.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey makes his Champions League debut and starts his first senior game for Manchester City.

Simpson-Pusey only turned 19 yesterday but gets his chances as Nathan Ake is on the bench and Ruben Dias is not involved at all. It is one of three changes to the side beaten at Bournemouth on Saturday. Rico Lewis replaces Kyle Walker and Savinho comes in for Ilkay Gundogan as City look to avoid a third successive loss.

Manchester City XI: Ederson, Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Nunes, Haaland.

Substitutes: Ortega, Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Wright, O’Reilly, McAtee, Wilson-Esbrand.

Join Kelly Cates now on BBC Radio 5 Live for build up around the grounds for tonight's Champions League matches.

Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock and Ian Dennis will then take us through live commentary from Anfield at 20:00 GMT.

Press the 'watch live' tab at the top of this page to follow all the build-up.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Anfield

Image source, EPA

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso will really be feeling the love tonight from both sets of fans.

Liverpool supporters will give a rapturous reception to their former hero, who won the Champions League here in 2005, but there are also plenty of Bayer Leverkusen followers in attendance. They understandably idolise the coach who brought the Bundesliga to the club last season.

There were plenty gathered around Anfield three hours before kick-off taking in the sights and atmosphere around the stadium.

As always feel free to contact us and send us your thoughts on all the action. What do you make of the new Champions League format this season? Liking it or not?

How far will the British clubs go this season and why?

Carlo Ancelotti makes one change to the Real Madrid side which started their last fixture - the 4-0 home Clasico loss to Barcelona.

Luka Modric comes into midfield, with Eduardo Camavinga dropping to the bench.

Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior form a ferocious front line.

Real Madrid XI: Lunin; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Modric, Tchouameni; Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius

Subs: Fran Gonzalez, Mestre, Camavinga, Rodrygo, Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Ceballos, Fran Garcia, Brahim

Image source, Opta

There are three alterations to the AC Milan side who started their 1-0 Serie A win at Monza last weekend.

England international Fikayo Tomori comes in at centre back, replacing Strahinja Pavlovic.

Yunus Musah and Rafael Leao are the others to come into the XI.

Milan XI: Maignan; Royal, Thiaw, Tomori, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders, Musah; Pulisic, Morata, Leao

Image source, Opta

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter in Lisbon

The press box is certainly high enough at the Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon.

It does offer a magnificent view of the pitch and the technical area.

I don't recall observing Ruben Amorim on the touchline, so it will be interesting to see how he manages his team through the game.

He has made it quite clear he is only interested in Sporting tonight, but plenty of Manchester United fans will be taking a keen interest too.

Image source, BBC Sport

Manchester City and Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva says Ruben Amorim, who takes over as Manchester United boss from Sporting on 11 November, deserves to be at "one of the best clubs in the world".

But he had a cheeky little remark to make on just how well he hopes the Portuguese coach gets on.

"In terms of him going to Manchester United, I don't wish him well, but he deserves to be in one of the best clubs in the world right now because of the work that he has done for the last few years," Silva said.

"Before he arrived, Sporting didn't win the league for nearly 20 years but since he's been there with the president and the sporting director it looks like they all went in the same direction.

"As a manager tactically, you can see that he's really good, the way he prepares his teams. Sporting was never this, it was always going upwards and they're a big machine right now.

"I only have compliments because they've been flying in the Portuguese league. It's going to be very tough to beat them."

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool make two changes as Luis Diaz and Curtis Jones start.

Defender Ibrahima Konate has recovered from an arm injury to take his place in the first XI.

Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.

Subs: Jaros, Davies, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Robertson, Quansah, Morton, Bradley.

For Bayer Leverkusen, ex-Arsenal man Granit Xhaka starts in midfield while Germany international Florian Wirtz starts in attack.

Bayer Leverkusen XI: Hradecky, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie, Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo, Wirtz, Garcia, Boniface.

Subs: Kovar, Lomb, Hofmann, Andrich, Arthur, Schick, Tella, Onyeka.

Bayer Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso says he will "focus on the game" and not the emotions of an Anfield return when Bayer Leverkusen face his old club Liverpool in the Champions League.

He said "there is no time for tourism" as he batted away multiple questions about his links with the Reds.

Alonso led Leverkusen to one of the all-time great seasons in 2023-24, only losing one game in all competitions. They won their first Bundesliga title, ending Bayern Munich's 11-year dominance of the league, as part of the German double - and lost the Europa League final to Atalanta.

Alonso, a Spanish midfielder, played for Liverpool from 2004 until 2009, making 210 appearances - and winning the 2005 Champions League. He was at one stage the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager but decided to stay at Leverkusen, and the Reds hired Arne Slot from Feyenoord instead.

"Let's talk about the game, it's more interesting than my future," he said on Monday. "Let's talk about the great players on both sides, that is what is in my head.

"For us it is a big challenge to come here. Liverpool at the moment is one of the best, if not the best, in Europe. It's a good squad, good coach. At Anfield, it's a big challenge. We're looking forward to it, let's see what happens."

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Image source, Getty Images

Brendan Rodgers is still looking for a marquee win in Europe as Celtic manager - and a victory against RB Leipzig, currently the second best team in Germany, would most definitely go down as one of those.

Celtic have won their last two home Champions League matches. Jiri Jarosik and Massimo Donati were the heroes the last time they did three in a row at Celtic Park.

After beating Feyenoord last season and Slovan Bratislava this season, Rodgers' team have now given themselves a chance of emulating Gordon Strachan's class of 2007.

George W Bush was in the White House, Gordon Brown was in No 10 and the late Alex Salmond had only recently been elected First Minister of Scotland, which is just a way of illustrating how long Celtic have been waiting to win three times on the spin in a stadium they like to think of as a fortress.

If they want visitors to see Celtic Park as anything other than a bucket list venue - it would be nice if a global superstar said, just once, that he hated the place on the back of a chastening experience.

• To follow Celtic versus RB Leipzig as it happens, click here

There are some European giants floundering in the bottom half of the table, including Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid.

Celtic would give their hopes a massive boost tonight if they win at home against an RB Leipzig side that have lost all three of their matches so far.

It's looking good for the English teams, with them occupying all the top three spots, while Arsenal are ninth and unbeaten.

Each side plays eight different opponents in this phase of the competition with the top eight sides going straight into the last 16. Those positioned between ninth and 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to join them, while those from 25th to 36th will be eliminated.

A win at home against Bayer Leverkusen will see Liverpool overtake Aston Villa (who play tomorrow) and move to the top of the Champions League table.

A victory for Manchester City will also see them jump above Unai Emery's side.

These are the Champions League fixtures taking place this week. The top nine listed are tonight, with the other nine tomorrow.

In tonight's early kick-offs, PSV Eindhoven are currently 2-0 ahead against Girona, while Slovan Bratislava are trailing 2-1 at home in their match with Dinamo Zagreb.

Hello and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of tonight's Champions League action. We will have live radio commentary on this very page of Liverpool versus Bayer Leverkusen.

Kick-off for that one, as well as Sporting versus Manchester City and Celtic versus RB Leipzig, is at 20:00 GMT.

Image source, PA Media

The Champions League is back and what a night we have coming up.

Liverpool, after three wins from three, take on Bayer Leverkusen, who are managed by Xabi Alonso - a player that helped the Reds win the 2005 Champions League with a goal in the final.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile in Portugal, soon-to-be Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim will be looking to get one over his future rivals as his Sporting side entertain Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.