Champions League LIVE SCORES: Action on NOW as Arsenal take on Athletic Club before Tottenham host Villarreal

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Arsenal7. Arsenal is being stretched out wide by the Bilbao players, who are putting the pressure on early.

They go down the left with Calafiori, who tries to play Eze through, but the pass is overhit.

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Arsenal5. Struggling to get up the pitch, the Gunners try to find Gyokeres over the top, but Vivian clears.

Bilbao is on the attack for the first time in the match now, and they attempt to find an acute pass into the box, but Gabriel clears the danger.

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Arsenal3. David Raya punts the ball up the pitch to begin the match trying to find Gyokeres.

He can win the header, but Arsenal get the second ball.

Arsenal is playing the ball well deep in their own half, trying to get out of the Bilbao press.

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Arsenal 1. Arsenal gets us kicked off here in the sold-out, beautiful-looking San Mames Stadium in Spain.

It’s the first Champions match of many for the Gunners, and they’ve got a tricky test to start.

FROM JORDAN DAVIES IN BILBAOTHE sun is out at the San Mames Stadium ahead of this early kick-off. 

Both Mikel Arteta and David Raya spoke of how depth and rotation will be key if Arsenal are to go one better than last season after reaching the semi-finals, only to run out of puff against eventual champions PSG.

And Arteta has certainly done that this season, mainly through necessity, and he continues here in Spain, an hour’s drive from his birthplace of San Sebastian.

Declan Rice returns after being benched for the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend with skipper Martin Odegaard left at home due to his reoccurring shoulder issue.

Rice partners Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi, formerly of Real Sociedad – arch rivals of Athletic Bilbao.

William Saliba returning to the bench is timely and unsurprising that he is not being thrown straight back in after recovering from his ankle problem, made all the more easy by the great form of 21-year-old Cristhian Mosquera, who starts again.

Still no room for Myles Lewis-Skelly, kept out once again by Riccardo Calafiori, while that fearsome front three of Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke – fresh from ripping Forest apart – start together once more.

10 minutes until kickoffWe’re just moments away from the first wave of Champions League fixtures getting underway.

With the players back in the dressing rooms for their final team talks, Arsenal will be eager to make a statement in Europe’s most competitive tournament.

And there’s good news for the Gunners faithful, William Saliba is back on the bench tonight after recovering from the injury he picked up at Anfield a few weeks ago.

‘We are good enough’Reflecting on what Arsenal learned on their run to the semi-final last season, Mikel Arteta said: “That we are good enough, that we can compete against any opposition on the day.

“And on top of that, two things have to go your way.

“You need to have a full squad available when it comes to the most critical moments in the season, and then the ball has to go in at the right moment or with the right decision, it has to because the margins are so small.”

He added: “You take a lot of learnings from it. It’s painful because it’s not only what we feel, it’s about the expectation that we created and the real conviction that we had within the club, the team, that we could go all the way.

“We showed a very high level of consistency and quality throughout the competition and learn from it and try to be better.”

How the other 5:45 kick-off looksArsenal’s trip to Athletic Club is not the only one getting going at 5:45pm this evening.

PSV will also host Union St.Gilloise, and this is how the sides look.

PSV: Kovar, Dest, Flamingo, Obispo, Yarek, Schouten, Saibari, Veerman, Perisic, Pepi, Van Bommel

USG: Scherpen, Khalaili, Mac Allister, Burgess, Leysen, Ait El Hadj, Zorgane, Rasmussen, Rodriguez, David, Niang

Stat attack

• Arsenal have not started a European campaign with a loss since 2015 (2-1 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb). Six wins and two draws since.
• Athletic Bilbao won six of their seven home games in last season’s Europa League, with their only loss coming in the semi-final against Man Utd.
• Over the last two Champions League season, only Real Madrid (33) have picked up more points than Arsenal (32).
• Viktor Gyokeres averaged a goal or an assist every 87 minutes for Sporting in last term’s Champions League.

‘One of the best’Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde is full of praise for Mikel Arteta ahead of kick-off.

When asked about Arsenal’s gaffer, he said: “One of the best coaches in the world, surely.

“What he is doing in Arsenal proves it. I do not say it just because Arsenal has great players, but because of what they do, how they play, their spirit, how they press you, how they do not let you play, how insistent they are in each duel.

“It is difficult to press them very high because they have resources to go out and play in the space.”

How Athletic Club lookSpanish star Nico Williams misses out on the XV, after suffering an injury on international duty for Spain.

His brother, Inaki Williams, earns a start.

How the Gunners lookOnly one change for Mikel Arteta from the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Declan Rice is back into the XI, after being rested for the win over Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Injury news Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Martin Odegaard has not travelled after picking up a shoulder injury in the win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

On Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury, he said: “I think there are still quite a lot of things to go through.

“It’s very early to understand when and which week he’s going to be available.

“But he will certainly be pushing to be available as quickly as possible.”

Ben White, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are also out.

For Athletic Bilbao, they are without their star man Nico Williams.

Get to know Athletic Bilbao Arsenal’s campaign begins with a trip to the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao tonight.

The 53,000-seater hosted the Europa League final last season as Spurs beat Man Utd 1-0.

It is set to be a raucous atmosphere in the Basque Country as the club have been absent from the Champions League for the last 11 years.

Ernesto Valverde is into his third spell as manager and this is his most successful yet.

He guided the club to Copa del Rey success in the 2023-24 season and a fourth place finish in LaLiga last term.

Athletic Bilbao are one of the most unique clubs in the world due to their “cantera” policy of only having players born within the Basque region of Spain and France.

Coming up…It is the Champions Leagues’ dedicated week, meaning the opening round of matches are spread across tonight, tomorrow and Thursday.

Matches kick-off at 8pm unless stated.

On Tuesday

• PSV vs Union Saint-Gilloise (5:45pm BST)
• Athletic Bilbao vs Arsenal (5:45pm BST)
• Juventus vs Dortmund 
• Benfica vs Qarabag 
• Tottenham vs Villarreal 
• Real Madrid vs Marseille 

On Wednesday 

• Olympiacos vs Pafos (5:45pm BST)
• Slavia Prague vs Bodo/Glimt (5:45pm BST)
• Bayern Munich vs Chelsea 
• PSG vs Atalanta
• Ajax vs Inter 
• Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid

On Thursday 

• Copenhagen vs Bayer Leverkusen (5:45pm BST)
• Club Brugge vs Monaco (5:45pm BST)
• Eintracht Frankfurt vs Galatasaray 
• Sporting Lisbon vs Kairat Almaty
• Newcastle vs Barcelona 
• Man City vs Napoli

Champions League LIVEWelcome to SunSport’s LIVE coverage of the Champions League.

Europe’s biggest club competition is back tonight and the action starts at 17:45 BST as Arsenal travel to Athletic Bilbao. 

The Gunners made the semi-final last year and, according to Mikel Arteta, were “much better” than eventual winners PSG in their 3-1 defeat to them on aggregate.

After the Arsenal match, it is a Champions League return for Tottenham as they welcome Villarreal to North London.

Thomas Frank has made a positive start to life at Spurs and can make it four wins from his last five games in charge.

There are six games this evening in total and you won’t miss any of the action by sticking with us.