Timo Werner is clipped in the box by Kaio after Cesar Azpilicueta made another good run down the right.

Big chance for Chelsea! No hesitation from the referee there.

The atmosphere is great by the way. Sure, my gran could be bashing a tamborine in her living room and it'd be more enthusiastic than the fake crowd noise, but still.

Lovely to have fans in for this game.

Image source, Getty Images

Steve in Milan: In 3 minutes Mendy has done more than Kepa would have.

Nii: This Chelsea coloured kit again.

Silvio De Fede: Good for Crystal Palace to have finally the chance to play in Champions League. Oh wait, is this Chelsea?

Hakim Ziyech showing he's up for this. Cesar Azpilicueta feeds it into his feet just outside the box.

He has a quick glance over his shoulder, sees the space, turns sharply and glides into the box.

The angle is tight and his shot is turned over at the near post. Corner.

Callum Hudson-Odoi brings it down the left. He uses Timo Werner, who moves it on to Jorginho.

He tries to pick out the run of Cesar Azpilicueta on the right but the pass is overhit. There was space though and that was a nice move.

Hmm, Chelsea struggling to get going here. Krasnodar look pacy when they get it out wide.

Again, a wayward pass almost gifts possession to the hosts but Cesar Azpilicueta gets the better of Cristian Ramirez.

Ben Chilwell gives the ball away right on the edge of his box needlessly and Marcus Berg picks it up.

He takes on Chilwell, creates a yard of space and fires it dangerously over the bar. Kai Havertz then gives it away in midfield and Daniil Utkin forces a save from Edouard Mendy.

Sloppy!

Callum Hudson-Odoi cuts inside with pace off the left and looks like he's shaping up for a curler.

He tries to tee up Jorginho instead but it's intercepted.

These two kits on show are real European-game worthy kits. Chelsea with the ball early on.

Interested to see how Antonio Rudiger gets on tonight, as well as Hakim Ziyech.

Off we go in Russia!

Here come the teams. The seats in the stadium are a proper lime green colour. Very weird seeing fans! Bet these Chelsea players are loving it. A few of them have smiles on their faces as they look around during the Champions League anthems.

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard speaking to BT Sport: "We have spoken a lot about it this week - that we haven't lost in these games. We are striving for more wins, we know that.

"We are looking for improvement but I have a lot of confidence in the team and everybody feels good. We approach the game with the same confidence as normal."

On new signings and not creating enough: "It's football. We scored a lot of goals before this run in the Premier League. It's normal sometimes that everything doesn't work. We have to be very patient. Football is a process where you have to keep working. If everybody could throw in players and it work straight away it would be very different. We know we have work to do. I have a lot of trust in those individuals. They will get stronger and you will see that.

"It's been a tough schedule. In England a lot of the teams have the same tough schedule. There has definitely been a lack of training time so a lots of things we're working on we're doing in games. That's difficult but we have to keep working. I'm seeing a lot of good things at the moment. We will grow in confidence and that is where we are at.

On Edouard Mendy: "I don't want to isolate players. What I will say is that since Mendy has come into the team, he has played well and helped contribute to the two clean sheets. He has come with a real confidence and quality and that's really good for us. That's why we brought him to the football club and he's been helping."

Of all players in Chelsea's starting XI, Hakim Ziyech has had a hand in the most Champions League goals - 12 (five goals, seven assists, all for Ajax).

FC Krasnodar's players in the current squad have contributed to three Champions League goals combined (one goal, two assists).

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio 5 Live

Former Manchester United and Chelsea defender Paul Parker has been chatting to 5 Live Drive ahead of Chelsea's game with Krasnodar tonight.

Parker gave his thoughts on what Chelsea's ideal defensive pairing should be: I’d like to have seen Antonio Rudiger next to Thiago Silva, just to see how that would work.

"That is ideal for what Chelsea want. But that’s football – you can’t guarantee they would be there for every football game together because before this, centre-halves were the actual spine of the team, they were the ones that played every single game.

"But if Chelsea are going to go on OK, they do need two solid centre-halves who everyone can trust and it’s a great starting point to build a side – especially with the signings they made over the last window. It hasn't quite come together yet, though, so that's what thy have to work on."

Image source, Getty Images

Paris St-Germain will look to get off the mark in this season's Champions League after they were beaten by Manchester United in their opener last week.

PSG bounced back from that loss by thrashing Dijon in Ligue 1 at the weekend with on-loan Everton forward Moise Kean hitting a brace before he was replaced by Kylian Mbappe, who also helped himself to two goals.

This will be the first time these two sides have ever met, so a step into the unknown for both.

FC Krasnodar will play their first Champions League home match tonight. None of the previous 12 newcomers to the CL have won their first home match when facing English opposition (W0-D2-10).

The last team to win their first CL home match facing English opposition were VfB Stuttgart against Manchester United (2-1) on 1 October, 2003.

Fifa says it is not aware of any agreement for Barcelona to join a European Super League.

Outgoing Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the club had begun proceedings as he announced his resignation on Tuesday.

Bartomeu stepped down, along with the entire board of directors, after facing increasing pressure from fans.

Last week, it was revealed that talks had taken place over the creation of a new £4.6bn European Premier League.

More here.

How cool is this stadium?

Chelsea, on the road at, er, 'Spaceship.'

It's actually called Krasnodar Stadium. So a very quirky name to match the quirkiness of the stadium.

Image source, Reuters

Keith Chapman: At the moment, Chelsea may get Round of 16. Same with Manchester United. Cannot see them doing amazing.

In the age of the super-club, the Champions League will arrive in rare new territory tonight when Chelsea land in southern Russia.

Their opponents are FC Krasnodar, upstarts by anyone's measure, but this is a club with a uniquely compelling twist.

The province of Krasnodar Krai was frontier country in the days of the Russian Empire. These days, Krasnodar is a calmer place to be.

Or at least, it will be until Chelsea touch down.

Image source, Getty Images

The game, the club's first ever home Champions League group-stage match, is a sellout - within the Covid-19 restrictions allowed by the Russian authorities. A phenomenal amount of effort, and no little heart, has gone into turning the young club, only founded in 2008, into an outfit ready to compete at this level.

Behind it all is the controlling hand of a singular maverick. Sergey Galitsky, founder of the supermarket chain Magnit, sits alone in the Russian billionaire community.

Read more here.