Aston Villa’s hopes of automatic qualification for the Champions League round of 16 took a blow after a 1-0 loss to Monaco on Tuesday, while Atalanta won big to keep up its strong campaign.

Barça struck deep into stoppage time to edge a dramatic nine-goal encounter while Liverpool made it seven wins from seven by beating Lille.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE football has returned for the penultimate matchround of the league stage. And Liverpool are back in action tonight at home to Lille as they close in on confirming their automatic

Liverpool and Barcelona have both advanced to the Champions League last-16 after their wins on Wednesday evening, and the pair will now be top seeds in the knockouts

Hello and welcome everyone to The Athletic for our live coverage of Liverpool vs Lille. The Champions League is back today after a more than month-long hiatus and the fixture we're focusing on pits the Premier League leaders against one of the high-flying sides in Ligue 1.

Follow 5 Live commentary and live text as Monaco host Aston Villa and Liverpool face Lille in the Champions League.

The UEFA Champions League returns for the first time in the new year on Tuesday, when the focus will be on the race for the top eight berths as the first edition of the league phase nears its conclusion.

The Champions League has returned to our screens as Liverpool look to continue their impressive form in the competition – and you can follow their match against Lille with our live blog below. The 36 teams in the Champions League have just two games left of this season’s revamped eight-game league-stage format.