As Barcelona hosts a red-hot Aston Villa side, matchday four of Champions League action will bring some heavyweight matchups to kick things off on Tuesday. Inter look to bounce back from a disappointing Milan derby with a tricky away trip to Rotterdam to face Feyenoord. Manchester United and their eight-game winless streak could see things get worse as Roma are coming to Old Trafford as well, while Atlético Madrid hosting Bayern Munich and Barcelona's match with Aston Villa are some of the highlights of the day. Villarreal, facing Paris Saint-Germain, who are struggling with injuries, could also bring an interesting tactical battle to the forefront.
This is the stage where contenders truly begin to separate from the pack, and with five teams boasting a perfect record of three wins from three matches, the path to the top eight could begin to look clear if the group can continue to keep their momentum going. Aston Villa and PSG are the only members of that five in action today, and both have matches where they'll need to be at their best to keep that going.
Follow along as CBS Sports has updates from Tuesday's matches:
All times Eastern, all matches available on Paramount+
Tennis balls are being flung onto the pitch by fans as they say to sell the team and stand up if you hate the Glazers. So far, protests around the club haven't led to much, but with United in the relegation race yet again, we're at an inflection point.
Adding their name to the dominant first half performances, Inter are getting it done as Pio Espositio scores with Lautaro Martinez not being involved in the match. No complaints, leading by two after only 34 minutes facing a young Feyenoord team.
Soule was against in space, and his shot hit the hand of a United defender, and Malen converted it. Looking at the body language of the United players, this is one that they're already ready to go home from.
What do you even do at this stage? No one was defending as Soule was left onside, and United are in a familiar position, trailing in a match. Just horrid stuff.
Only 13 minutes in, PSG are ahead by three goals, and they'll feel quite good about being able to overcome their own injuries in this one. For Villarreal, they need to stop the bleeding as goal difference is quite important in this competition.
Barcelona strikes first at home against Aston Villa as it's who else but Lamine Yamal, only eight minutes into the match. They want to move on from suffering their first losses of the season quickly, and Yamal's slight dribble to get into space and open the scoring is something else. Yamal has now also scored the most goals by any teenager in Champions League history, netting his 14th.
Stuttgart did have a goal ruled out due to being offside, but Galatasaray's early lead was enough to pick up their second victory of the league phase so far. Sporting CP's win over Shakhtar Donetsk is quite a big one, as it pushes them into the top eight for the league phase, which would mean an automatic berth to the round of 16 as things stand. Now it's almost time for the late slate of matches to get underway.
Another impressive start of the season for the Brazilian striker who has already scored 17 goals in the opening 12 games in all competitions, also delivering three assists. He's in great form and alongside his team they are hoping to show also their potential outside Spain where they are expected to be one of the candidates for the final win of the tournament. -- Francesco Porzio
Aston Villa will be eager to face an understaffed Barcelona and will probably have their moments in what should be a thoroughly entertaining matchup. Barcelona, though, have enough attacking firepower to get out of the challenges Villa might pose. Expect players like Raphinha and Lamine Yamal to step up to the occasion. -- Pardeep Cattry
The Senegal striker is in an outstanding run of form lately, his eight goals coming from shots worth barely half that value in xG, not bad for a player who had something of a reputation as a minus finisher whose greatest skill was getting chances at volume. Jackson will fancy his chances against Barcelona's high line. If he keeps up his hot streak, he might only need one opening to score. - James Benge
As the second half of the early slate gets underway, Sporting CP are now on the board and in the lead behind a goal from Issa Doumbia. As things stand, that would take them back into the top eight for now.
The early slate is already underway as Stuttgart trails by two goals to Galatasaray thanks to a brace by midfielder Alexey Batrakov. The Russian midfielder has been running hot in Champions League play with four goals from only five shots and an xG of 1.1. In the competition. While this may not be sustainable, if it helps the Turkish side get three points, they won't complain one bit about it. Meanwhile, Sporting CP are struggling with Shakhtar Donetsk's defense and haven't been able to create much in a must-win clash of their own.
