BARCELONA got their defence of the Champions League off to a flying start by giving out a 5-0 thrashing to Levski Sofia in torrential rain, in their Group A match last night.

HOLD the front page! Pre-production work on a new movie in the ‘Carry On’ series — this one to be called ‘Carry On London’ — has just begun.

FOR a few hours late on Wednesday night, the capital of France was turned into the capital of Catalonia, as Barcelona cars flew up and down the Champs Elysees, horns blaring and scarves and flags flying.

WHERE to begin? Appropriately at the beginning, or nearly so. Conveniently, the moments that defined last night’s Champions League final in Paris — and reshaped football history — arrived chronologically.

Barcelona 2 Arsenal 1

Arsenal and Barcelona have announced their teams for tonight's eagerly awaited Champions League final.

BARCELONA winger Ludovic Giuly is hoping that a week which began in disappointment will end tomorrow night in Paris with vengeance for the worst football memory in his career.

Barcelona star Ludovic Giuly has revealed he expects Thierry Henry to join the Spanish giants from Arsenal this summer.

BARCELONA will meet Arsenal in a Champions League final that will delight football purists around the world after holding AC Milan to a goalless draw last night.

Robbie Fowler starts up front as Liverpool travel to Upton Park tonight.

BARCELONA will wipe out one of their bitterest memories in European competition if they can knock AC Milan out of the Champions League when the teams meet in the second leg of their semi-final tonight.

Barcelona star Ronaldinho has warned his team-mates not to get carried away by their 1-0 first-leg victory over AC Milan.

AC Milan 0 Barcelona 1

AC Milan 0 Barcelona 1

AC Milan: Dida, Stam, Kaladze, Nesta, Serginho, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaka, Shevchenko, Gilardino. Subs: Kalac, Cafu, Maldini, Rui Costa, Vogel, Ambrosini, Amoroso.

AC MILAN coach Carlo Ancelotti believes his team’s greater experience in Europe will give them the edge in tonight’s Champions League clash against Barcelona.

YOUNG BOYS Bern playmaker Hakan Yakin, recently struggling with a thigh injury, has been omitted from the Switzerland squad for the games against France and the Republic of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham is bracing himself for a tough clash with France next month as Les Bleus welcome back three high-profile veterans from retirement.

TWO goals from Ludovic Giuly and one apiece for Oleguer and Gerard gave Barcelona a 4-0 win over Malaga last night and moved them a step closer to their first La Liga title in six years.

Real Madrid 4 Barcelona 2

ZINEDINE ZIDANE has dropped a heavy hint that he might yet be persuaded out of retirement to play for France in the World Cup qualifier in Dublin on September 7.

France 0 Switzerland 0

Isabelle Rondeau, Paris

Jose Mourinho handed a starting role to in-form striker Mateja Kezman as Chelsea looked to overcome a one-goal deficit against Barcelona in their return Champions League clash at Stamford Bridge.

ARSENAL have been given a major boost ahead of their do-or-die Champions League second leg clash with Bayern Munich this week, after prolific Dutch striker Roy Makaay was ruled out due to a thigh injury.

Irish winger Damien Duff will play after all in Chelsea Champions League tie in Barcelona tonight.

CHAMPIONS AC Milan slipped further behind Serie A leaders Juventus when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by mid-table Bologna at the San Siro yesterday.

Barcelona’s promising youngster Andres Iniesta gets the chance to cement a place in the side after being given the nod to play against relegation-threatened Malaga this weekend.

Barcelona 1 Celtic 1

BARELY two days in the French capital, and if I had a franc for every time I’ve heard an Irish voice proclaim that “there’s never been a better time to take on France in Paris“, I’d have, oh, about ten or eleven francs by now.

A CAUTIONARY note seems advisable after absorbing the cross-section of views expressed in the sports pages of the Sunday papers — France have conceded nothing ahead of next Saturday’s World Cup qualifying tie at the Stade de France.

France coach Raymond Domenech has defended his decision to make several changes to the Les Bleus squad for the World Cup qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland on October 9 and Cyprus on October 13.

Celtic 1 Barcelona 3

Celtic 1 Barcelona 3

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard decided to leave returning hero Henrik Larsson on the bench for tonight’s glamour Champions League Group F opener at Parkhead.

Faroe Islands 0 France 2

Clinton Morrison's and Hakan Yakin's goals in the first 20 minutes have not been added to, and it has finished 1-1 between the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland in tonights World Cup qualifier.

Goals from Clinton Morrison and Hakan Yakin mean that the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland are level at half-time.

After a period of pressure from Switzerland, Hakan Yakin has put them back on level terms with the Republic of Ireland.

Clinton Morrison has put Ireland ahead eight minutes into their World Cup qualifier against Switzerland, heading the ball in from a Damien Duff cross.

Roy Keane made his long-awaited competitive return for the Republic of Ireland after an absence of almost three years tonight.