Champions League playoffs: What to know and how to watch; Upsets in Europe highlight weekend

Hey there! The European club season is officially in full swing and has wasted little time delivering entertainment. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest as a busy weekend gives way to consequential midweek action.

📺 Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, Aug. 25
🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter vs. Torino, 2:35 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EPL: Newcastle United vs. Liverpool, 3 p.m. ➡️ USA Network

Tuesday, Aug. 26
🇪🇺 UCL qualifying: Kairat vs. Celtic, 12:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EFL Cup: Preston North End vs. Wrexham, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL qualifying: Paphos vs. Crvena Zvezda, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL qualifying: Sturm Graz vs. Bodo/Glimt 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

⚽ The Forward Line

🫢 Upsets highlight weekend in Italy and England

The new Serie A season was mostly kind to Italy's heavy-hitters over the weekend, with reigning champions Napoli and UEFA Champions League-bound Juventus each picking up a 2-0 win. The operative word here, though, is most; opening weekend did not go according to plan for everyone, with AC Milan's 2-1 loss to Cremonese serving as the first round's big surprise.

Milan debuted a new look under new manager Massimiliano Allegri, who rolled out the 3-5-2 he had used throughout preseason with Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez up top and Luka Modric behind them, churning out 24 shots and 1.88 expected goals along the way. They were outdone on Saturday by the newly promoted Cremonese, though, thanks to Federico Bonazzoli's 61st-minute bicycle kick. After last season's eighth-place finish, Saturday's loss keeps the mood sour at Milan for at least another week, and as Francesco Porzio writes in a round of opening weekend overreactions, it may jeopardize Allegri's side's chance of a top-four finish.

• Porzio: "There is a lot to learn from this game for Allegri, who needs to solve some issues with the roster in the shortest time possible, but things are not looking good so far, even with former Real Madrid legend Luka Modric. AC Milan are expected to sign at least another striker before the end of the summer transfer window ... The last week of the transfer window will be key in determining what we can expect from them this season, but looking at the competitors, we can't say if they will definitely end up in the top four of the standings right now."

The second weekend of action in the Premier League, meanwhile, was equally as entertaining. Saturday's schedule began with Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 win at Manchester City, which marked Pep Guardiola's 10th defeat to Spurs in his career, but their inability to cope with the visitors' physicality might set off alarm bells for a City team at the start of a rebuild. As has now become routine, though, any other team's misfortunes are usually outdone by Manchester United's, who tied 1-1 with Fulham on Sunday. Manager Ruben Amorim's Premier League win percentage now sits at 24.1% with just seven victories in 29 matches, with their performances still as lackluster as they were last season despite a busy summer of spending. Amorim criticized his team's focus, saying his team forgets "to do the normal things" sometimes.

• Amorim: "I think we can do better, but we are putting in the effort, so that is the most important thing to me. I think in some moments that we did well, especially in the beginning of the game, and I felt that after the goal we were thinking about the result, just the result, and this team needs to win the game. We need to focus on the performance of what we need to do because if we think about the results, we forget to do the normal things."

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🔗  Midfield Link Play

🇪🇺 Champions League spots up for grabs

Qualification for the UEFA Champions League comes to a close this week – just in time for Thursday's league phase draw – and several upsets could still be in the cards in Europe. Four of the seven ties see teams separated by just one goal or less heading into the second legs, and only one team has a three-plus goal advantage ahead of this week's matches. Here's a glance at the aggregate scores as things stand, and you can watch the second legs live on Paramount+.

• Kairat 0-0 Celtic
• Pafos 2-1 Crvena Zvezda
• Sturm Graz 0-5 Bodo/Glimt
• Qarabag 3-1 Ferencvaros
• Club Brugge 3-1 Rangers
• Benfica 0-0 Fenerbahce
• Copenhagen 1-1 Basel

Tuesday's action will focus on three teams targeting their first-ever Champions League campaign – Kazakhstan's Kairat, Cyprus' Pafos and Norway's Bodo/Glimt – and the varying levels of difficulty they each face to get there. Bodo/Glimt look set for the league phase after a resounding 5-0 win over Sturm Graz at home last week, marking a nice follow-up act to their run to the UEFA Europa League semifinals last season. Pafos FC, the first-time Cypriot champions, are back on home turf and have the advantage over Champions League regulars Crvena Zvezda, but the biggest upset of the round could take place in Almaty, where Kairat welcome Celtic.

A 0-0 draw at Celtic Park last week means this tie could tilt in either direction very suddenly, placing plenty of pressure on both sides to perform. Celtic are the obvious favorites, but their inability to score at home raises the stakes for the Scottish champions – and accusations that they underestimated their foe, if Kairat manager Rafael Urazbakhtin is to be believed.

• Urazbakhtin: "Celtic players may have underestimated us at home. Now they will look at our game in a different way. They will have a different motivation and attitude … They understand that everything depends on them. We also think that everything depends on us. I don't think there is a bigger pressure on Celtic than on our home team. We will try to meet them and qualify for the group stage. And our task is to make it happen, to do everything we can."

🔗  Top Stories

❌ Juventus condemn racism: USMNT star Weston McKennie was the target of racial abuse on Sunday after Juventus' win over Parma, his club said.

🧪 Real Madrid's attack: Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso is trying to build chemistry in attack, and on Sunday, they showed their potential late on.

🏟 NWSL's attendance record: The National Women's Soccer League set a new attendance record this weekend when 40,091 fans watched Bay FC and Washington Spirit at an MLB stadium.

😮 Barcelona's big comeback: Barcelona were losing 2-0 at Levante on Saturday. Then Lamine Yamal and company took over.

🇺🇸 Reyna on the move: Gio Reyna is at risk of missing out on next summer's World Cup. That is why he desperately needed this move from Borussia Dortmund to Borussia Monchengladbach.

💰  The Back Line

💵 Best bets

• Premier League: Newcastle United vs. Liverpool, Monday, 3 p.m.
  💰 THE PICK: Anthony Elanga and Anthony Gordon each to have 1+ shots on targets (+160) -- Without Alexander Isak, Newcastle's attack has been manned by wingers doing the heavy lifting. Gordon has gotten comfortable with the responsibilities in the center of the pitch, while Elanga is growing with the step up. Given that Liverpool have no natural right backs available after Jeremie Frimpong's injury, the wide areas will be even more open than they were facing Bournemouth, where Antoine Semenyo hit the Reds for a brace. Newcastle may not score many goals, but they're going to get shots off. -- Chuck Booth

For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don't miss out on CBSSports.com's betting home page.

📺 What we're watching

What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Join Golazo Network as it helps fans get their day started on the right foot on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.

3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday): The leading women's soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women's game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will be breaking down the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic season all year long. And don't miss Sunday live streams on YouTube as soon as the last NWSL game of the weekend ends.

⚽  Call it What You Want (Tuesday and Thursday): Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies, and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the game in the United States as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup. Catch new episodes live on the Golazo America YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.