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By HARRY BAMFORTH, LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE REPORTER and OLIVER HOLT, CHIEF SPORTS WRITER and ISAAN KHAN, REPORTER and JACK GAUGHAN AT STADE LOUIS II Updated: 05: 58 AEST, 2 October 2025 20 View comments Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest scores, team news, and updates as Arsenal vs Olympiacos and Monaco vs Manchester City headline the action in the Champions League, with Oliver Holt, Isaan Khan and Jack Gaughan reporting from the grounds. Half-time scores in the Champions League: Arsenal lead at the break. It's been far from a vintage performance, and Olympiacos have had their moments, but Gabriel Martinelli's tap-in is enough for the Gunners to head into half-time ahead. Both sides have had their chances, and Daniel Podence came close to a leveller, but David Raya pulled off one of the best saves I have seen in recent years to deny him. Plenty to come in this one. It's the Erling Haaland show in Monaco. His two superb strikes have Manchester City ahead at the break at the Stade Louis II, and they are good value for it. Bar a five-minute spell of madness, Pep Guardiola's side have been rather dominant. This could get messy in the second half. HE'S DONE IT AGAIN! Erling Haaland makes no mistake this time, and that is the striker at his brilliant best. Nico O'Reilly whips in a teasing ball, and Haaland times his header perfectly to guide the ball into the bottom corner. The lad is just unstoppable right now. Wait, what? Has Erling Haaland actually just missed a big chance from two yards out? My word, he has. In fairness, it's from a near impossible angle as huge gets on to the end of Tijjani Reijnders' saved effort, but you still think he will somehow find a way. But he doesn't, only finding the side netting. It's just not Viktor Gyokeres' night, so far. Yet again, he finds himself behind after a lovely ball over the top, and surely this is the chance he takes. But no, he cuts back in the box and then blasts the ball comfortably over the bar. He has to do better there. That's another big chance for Manchester City. .. and it goes begging. The visitors are hammering at the Monaco door now and Nico O'Reilly is the latest to have a dig. He hammers one toward the top corner from inside the box, but Philipp Kohn denies him with a stinging stop. The second goal feels like it's coming. How is that not 2-0? Gabriel is sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. He can't believe he hasn't scored. The defender gets on the end of a corner, and you just expect him to score, but then his header is blocked and goes wide. I'm stunned. I thought it was a given that he scores those chances. It wouldn't have counted anyway, though, the referee has blown for a foul on the goalkeeper. Ohhhh, that would have been a stunner. That is Phil Foden at his very best, and he is so unlucky not to find the back of the net. He takes the ball brilliantly on the spins, drives into the box, and then smashes a sizzling effort back off the bar. So, so close. Lorenzo Pirola, take a blooming bow! The Olympiacos defender has just single-handedly stopped Arsenal from going two goals in front. What a piece of defending. Viktor Gyokeres races away and you just think he is going to bang one into the back of the net. But Pirola goes with him stride-for-stride and slides in to block his effort. Ohhhhh, that's so close. Tijjani Reijnders has a wry smile on his face as he knows he has come inches from putting Manchester City back in front. The midfielder bends one low and hard toward the bottom corner, and it just fizzes past the wrong side of the post. For a moment, I thought that was in. Manchester City are playing some lovely stuff. Monaco threw everything at them after equalising, but now the game has calmed down and City have taken control. They just can't get the final pass quite right, but once they do, there are a bucketful og goals waiting for them. Oh, this is tough to watch. Vanderson has pulled up injured, and he is in absolute bits, I mean, tears are flooding down his face. The full-back is helped off by medical staff but just sits down by the byline and pulls his shirt over his face. He is truly distraught. Kassoum Ouattara replaces him. WOW, WOW, WOW! That is a world-class save from David Raya to keep his Arsenal side in front. Olympiacos have barely been able to touch the ball, but they have just come mightily close to levelling the score through Daniel Podence. The former Wolves man arrows a volley toward the top corner, and it looks set to hit the net, but Raya does brilliantly to get across and deny him. Phenomenal. WHAT A RESPONSE! You won't see many better strikes than that tonight, Jordan teze levels things up instantly with a stunner. The ball comes to the midfielder 25 yards out, and he just decides to have a pop. And why not? He bends a beauty into the top corner. He. Is. Inevitable. Erling Haaland is on another level this season; he simply can't stop scoring, and he has netted the opener in Monaco. Josko Gvardiol lifts a ball over the top, and Haaland showcases that he has been smashing the yoga sessions by stretching his leg to head height to dink the ball into the back of the net. What a goal. Arsenal hit the front! Gabriel Martinelli may be the name on the scoresheet, but this goal is all about Viktor Gyokeres. The big man does brilliantly to barge his way through two centre-backs to race through on goal, and he slides the ball past the goalkeeper. But his effort bounces off the pots. Luckily for the Swede, Martinelli is following the ball in and simply has to tap the ball into an empty net. That's the easiest goal he will ever score. Yikes. .. We have our first shot of the evening, and well, it's not one to write home about. Jack Gaughan questioned whether any players would be able to hit the ball over the French border behind the stadium, and Tijjani Reijnders must have read the post and taken it as a challenge. He whallops one miles over the bar. The smoke has finally cleared, hooray. It's not exactly helped me though because despite being able to see what's going on, the fact of the matter is nothing is actually going on. Well, maybe that's harsh, Manchester City are knocking the ball about positively, but they are struggling to create anything, thus far. Arsenal are all over Olympiacos here. You can tell they are brimming with confidence here; they aren't allowing Olympiacos a second on the ball. The way this is going, I can see them slapping the Greek side about all night. What a start that would have been! Arsenal have come flying out of the blocks like Usain Bolt in a 100m Olympic final. Actually, that's a bad example as he was notoriously slow at the gun. But anyway, the Gunners are playing some lovely stuff and Gabriel Martinelli has the chance to head them in front inside three minutes. But he gets his header all wrong, and it goes wide. Big miss. I can barely see anything at Stade Louis II. The flares before kick-off menas that the stadium is engulfed in smoke, and its almost like they are playing in fog. I'm hoping it clears up, but for now, it feels like when you are trying to drive in mist and can't see a thing. It's tough. Right then, the wait is over. All four teams in our two feature games have emerged from the tunnel and are ready to go. Let's hope for a pair of crackers, eh? Look who is at the Stade Louis II Paul Pogba may not be fit, but he has turned up to watch his team-mates face off against his former rivals. It's a shame that he is injured because I would have loved to have seen him back in action. He may have had a crazy couple of years, but watching a Pogba in full flow is such a joy. Oh well, maybe another time. Gabriel, Arsenal defender, on TNT Sports: How are we feeling? If you have not answered that question with the thought of 'excited', then I will be disappointed. The war-ups are over, the games are upon, and you should all be buzzing right now. I know that I am. Owen Hargreaves, 2008 Champions League winner, on TNT Sports: Results from the 5. 45pm kick-offs: This is why I love the new format. We get to see some massive matches in the group phase now, and tonight may just be the biggest of the lot. Barcelona are hosting PSG. Yep, it's a biggie. Many were hoping that this would be the Champions League final last season, but we were robbed of it by Inter Milan, who proceeded to put in one of the worst final displays I have ever seen. However, we didn't have to wait long to see these two giants of the game come to blows. Let's hope it's as good as we all want it to be. Please tell me you get that play on words. .. If you don't, I will forever be devastated and will become the most boring blogger of all time (don't say it). Actually, who am I kidding? I will never stop with the puns. Anyway, I was just trying to think of a fun way to explain that there are a lot of Olympiacos fans, and I mean, A LOT. The atmosphere is already bouncing because of the away end. Do you remember the last time Monaco and Manchester City faced off? I mean, I certainly do. It was Pep Guardiola's first season in English football, and things weren't quite clicking with his City side at that point. His side was drawn against the best Monaco side in recent memory in the 16th round of the Champions League, and well, they showed us all that Pep still had a lot of work to do with the team. City won the first leg at home 5-3 in what was one hell of a game, but Monaco brought them back here and beat them 3-1 to progress on away goals. Hopefully, tonight is as entertaining as those games were. By Jack Gaughan At Stade Louis Ii Guys, we could be in for a cracking night in north London. History points to us seeing at least one goal tonight, maybe even more, and it's unlikely to be a draw. This will be the 13th time Arsenal and Olympiakos have faced each other in European competition, with none of the previous 12 ending in a stalemate and both sides winning six games apiece. Watch us know get a boring 0-0. .. Ally Mc Coist, former Rangers striker, speaking to talk SPORT Bet: Monaco's stadium is just beautiful. The setting where it's situated is just stunning, look at the cliffs and the view. I'm in awe. You're not getting these kinds of views on a wet and windy night, Wednesday night at Stoke City, that's for sure. I should know because I used to live there. Monaco has not posted a line-up graphic, so I am going old school. You may recognise a few names on their teamsheet, most notably Eric Dier, the former Tottenham star, who lines up in defence. Ex-Barcelona and Brighton winger Ansu Fati also starts, while Arsenal academy graduate Folarin Balogun is up top. Monaco starting XI: Kohn, Vanderson, Kehrer, Dier, Salisu, Diatta, Akliouche, Teze, Coulibaly, Fati, Balogun. Look who is back for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola brings Rodri straight back into the side as he makes three changes from the weekend. Bernardo Silva comes in to face his former side, while John Stones joins him. Nope, Max Dowman doesn't start. The youngster has to settle for the bench as Mikel Arteta makes a mammoth six changes to the side that started at Newcastle. Ben White, William Saliba, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli all come in. To make that many changes and still be that strong proves how good the Gunners' squad is. Stacked. Meanwhile, For Olympiacos, there is a familiar face. Former Wolves winger Daniel Podence starts for the visitors, while their danger man Ayoub El Kaabi is up top. Look who has arrived. 15-year-old Max Dowman leads Arsenal into the Emirates. Is there a chance the youngster starts tonight? I mean, I'm not so sure, but you never know with Mikel Arteta. He always likes to surprise us with team selections. The team news will be out very soon. .. Pep Guardiola, Manchester City boss, speaking on Tuesday: Say it quietly, but there may be a feel-good factor back at Manchester City. .. shhhh. We are only two months into the new campaign, but it already feels like it's been a rollercoaster for Pep Guardiola and his side. They started on fire, then lost two games and were deemed 'finished', and now they have steadied the ship once again. It's been exhausting to follow as a reporter, so I find it hard to imagine how the players are feeling. I mean, they must be a little confident given their recent form? They just smashed Burnley in the Premier League, while they got comfortably past a Napoli side that won the Serie A last season in their first game of this Champions League group phase. Now they face Monaco in a stadium that has haunted them in the past. Can they make it two wins from two? Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager, speaking on Tuesday: Arsenal arrive at the Emirates today, brimming with confidence. Why? Well, it may just have something to do with their monster win at Newcastle at the weekend. Actually, let me change that, it has everything to do with that win. Arsenal HAD to beat Newcastle, and well, that's what they did. For a long time, it looked like it was going to be another afternoon of pain for the Gunners at a ground that has inflicted so much damage on their title hopes in the last few years. But this new and improved version of Arsenal did not give up, and they turned the game on its head late on. Mikel Merino levelled things up with five minutes to go, before Gabriel won it in stoppage time. It was a brilliant performance and now they have so much momentum behind them. I fear for Olympiacos tonight; this could get rather messy. As I said, it's another big night in the Champions League. .. We are focusing on the two English sides playing at 8pm in this blog, but there is another in action this evening. Newcastle are currently playing rather well in Brussels in one of the two early kick-offs, and you can follow that blog with my colleague Lewis Browning here. The full schedule of the night is below: Fifth day and counting. .. Football is just non-stop at the moment, isn't it? That's not me complaining, it's just an observation. If anything, it's class; I'm a footie fanatic, so I will never get bored with too much of the sport. The Champions League has already delivered some great storylines this week - it never disappoints - and we are set up for another blockbuster night this evening. Arsenal and Manchester City are both in action and are looking to build on their belting starts in the tournament. The Gunners host Olympiacos while City travel to the beautiful principality of Monaco. Two tough, but winnable, match-ups. So, without further ado, shall we get crackalacking? Boooooom 1-0 COYG

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