Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)AP
Real Madrid faces Lille in a UEFA Champions League game on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 (10/2/24) at Pierre Mauroy Stadium Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: UEFA Champions League game
Who: Real Madrid vs. LOSC Lille
When: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 (10/2/24)
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Where: Pierre Mauroy Stadium Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
TV: TUDN
Channel finder: Verizon Fios, Comcast Xfinity,Spectrum/Charter,Optimum/Altice,Cox,DIRECTV,Dish,Hulu, fuboTV, Sling.
Live stream: fuboTV
AP Soccer story:
Key players will be sidelined when the Champions League resumes Tuesday after a wave of injuries within a week of the new-look competition starting.
Kylian Mbappé’s sore hamstring is likely to sideline him beyond Wednesday when he was due to return to France with defending champion Real Madrid to face Lille.
Serious knee injuries mean Manchester City midfielder Rodri is out for the season and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen will miss at least most of it.
Inter Milan midfielder Nicolò Barella, who was a standout playing against Rodri on Sept. 18, will miss at least one Champions League game because of a thigh strain.
The injuries to four players who were involved at the European Championship into the knockout phase have sharpened the debate about player workload in a calendar made more congested by the bigger Champions League.
The extended program is what influential clubs all-but forced UEFA to create and the 18 games this week, split between Tuesday and Wednesday, still leaves each of them with six more to play through January.
Another final rematch
There were two repeats of past finals in the first week of games that relaunched the Champions League in a single-standings format. Man City and Inter drew 0-0 and Liverpool won 3-1 at AC Milan.