The Champions League group stage reaches the halfway point this week and Tuesday provides another set of tasty fixtures.

Liverpool travel to Atletico Madrid seeking revenge two seasons on from their last-16 exit to Diego Simeone s side in the pick of the games.

Real Madrid and Manchester City are each looking to respond to defeats last time out when they take on Shakhtar Donetsk and Club Brugge respectively.

Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain host RB Leipzig and two of Europe s great entertainers in Ajax and Borussia Dortmund face off in Amsterdam.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at the key Opta data ahead of some key contests.

Atletico Madrid v Liverpool: Reds face bogey side

Following their last-16 exit to Atletico two seasons ag…

Giorgio Chiellini asserted it was the right time to end his Juventus career after making his final home appearance for the club, revealing Italy s failure to reach the Qatar World Cup influenced his decision.

Chiellini played the first 17 minutes of a Serie A clash with Lazio on Monday, in which Juve threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2.

First-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata looked set to ensure the Bianconeri marked the Allianz Stadium swansong of Chiellini – and Paulo Dybala – with a win, only for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to equalise with the final kick of the game after Alex Sandro put through his own net.

The 37-year-old defender, who has won 20 trophies during his incredible career with the Turin giants, has made 392 top-flight appear…

Real Madrid returned to the summit of LaLiga as David Alaba s stunner and Lucas Vazquez s late tap in saw Carlo Ancelotti s team beat Barcelona 2-1 in the season s first Clasico.

Sergino Dest squandered a golden chance for Barca at Camp Nou and Madrid made their hosts pay when Clasico debutant Alaba arrowed in a brilliant shot.

Karim Benzema should have added to Madrid s lead in the second half, though Vazquez was on hand to nudge in at the end of a stoppage-time counter.

That proved to be crucial, with Sergio Aguero s maiden Barca goal in the 97th minute not enough to inspire a comeback as the hosts failed to win a fifth straight LaLiga Clasico, their longest winless run against any team in the competition since May 2008.

Barca seemed all set to take th…

Marco Silva believes Fulham s displays have been more complete this season than they were last term, and he is desperate to give their fans another result to savour ahead of Saturday s West London derby at Brentford.

While some expected Fulham to struggle this season after talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic left for Al-Hilal, they sit safely ensconced in 13th in the Premier League table with 43 points.

Fulham have only taken four points from their last five Premier League games, though, and Silva is aware their next match carries more importance than most for supporters.

These types of games are special for our fans, Silva said. I prepare my team in the same way for every match, but we want our fans to have a good feeling after tomorrow.

We have t…

Chiedozie Ogbene and Alan Browne are facing a race against time to be fit for the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar next month.

Frontman Ogbene is working his way back from a hamstring injury suffered during Rotherham’s 1-0 Sky Bet Championship win over Middlesbrough on May 1, while Preston midfielder Browne is continuing his rehabilitation from medial ligament damage sustained at QPR on April 7.

Speaking after a four-day training camp with his EFL and League of Ireland-based players in Bristol, manager Stephen Kenny said: “Chiedozie Ogbene had a hamstring tear with Rotherham and hasn’t been able to participate this week, so we’ll have to see how that is. Alan Browne as well, [is] coming back from a medial injury, so these …

Real Madrid fended off a late comeback from Deportivo Alaves to win 3-2 and ensure Carlo Ancelotti tasted victory in his 300th match.

Reigning LaLiga champions Madrid were cruising to victory at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday as goals from Lucas Vazquez, Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo put them 3-0 up.

Carlos Benavidez and Kike Garcia scored in the 85th and 86th minutes for Alaves but Madrid held on to win a match they had mostly dominated.

Madrid opened the scoring under a minute after kick-off when Vinicius Junior took a long Federico Valverde pass in his stride and ran up the left channel before setting up full-back Vazquez, who fired home from close range.

Los Blancos extended their lead in the 40th minute when Mbappe played a neat one-two with Jude Bellingha…

Ronald Koeman said it was a fantastic achievement by Netherlands to secure a place at Euro 2020.

A goalless draw with Northern Ireland in Belfast clinched a top-two finish in Group C qualifying for Netherlands, no matter how unspectacular their performance was at Windsor Park on Saturday.

Koeman was a key player in the Netherlands team that won Euro 88 in West Germany, but now he is pulling the strings from the touchline as head coach.

On a testing night, the one-time stylish centre-back admitted he settled for a stalemate before the end, which is why he introduced substitute defender Nathan Ake late on in place of striker Ryan Babel.

It did the job, as Netherlands reached their first tournament since the 2014 World Cup, having failed to qualify for E…

Asian Football Federation (AFC) president Mohamed Bin Hammam on Saturday strongly denied reports that he had agreed to back the Spain-Portugal bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

The head of the Qatari football federation had been quoted in Spanish daily Marca as saying that he would vote for the Iberian bid to host the tournament when FIFA s executive committee convenes in Zurich on December 2.

However, he told AFP by telephone on Saturday that no interview with the paper had ever taken place.

I never spoke to any newspaper or media about the bidding for the 2018 World Cup, he said. What was published is totally false.

In a report on Friday, Marca quoted Bin Hammam as saying that Asia supports the Iberian bid but denying there was a pact between the two b…

Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Portugal into his 11th major international tournament after being named in Roberto Martinez s 26-man squad for Euro 2024.

Ronaldo opted against retiring from international football after Portugal suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Morocco at the 2022 World Cup, remaining an integral part of the Selecao setup under Martinez.

His 14 European Championship goals are an all-time tournament record, putting him five clear of Michel Platini, and he will look to widen that gap in Germany this year.

Portugal, who won all 10 of their qualifiers while scoring 36 goals, will open their Group F campaign against the Czech Republic before facing Turkey and Georgia.

There are few surprises in Martinez s squad overall, with Manchester Ci…

Declan Rice is confident that England can do something really special at Euro 2024 as the team set off for Germany on Monday.

The Arsenal midfielder was part of the side that fell short in the tournament three years ago against Italy at Wembley, and has since become a mainstay in the side under Gareth Southgate.

This will be Rice s third international tournament for the Three Lions, and he believes that the current squad have what it takes to lift the trophy in Berlin on July 14.

“We want to make history,” the 25-year-old said on England’s departure show on YouTube. “We say it all the time, but genuinely we have a group, a manager, that really believes.

“We have a confidence that we can go there and do something really special and, of course,…