REAL TEST Virgin Media Sport's Tommy Martin guides us through Wednesday's key Champions League games

The final round of Champions League groups games are upon us and Virgin Media Sport host Tommy Martin is looking forward to crucial showdown for Real Madrid.

Midtjylland v Liverpool – Wednesday 5.55pm – Virgin Media Sport

At full-time in Liverpool’s win over Ajax last week, Jurgen Klopp made a beeline to Caoimhin Kelleher to grant the 22-year-old Irish goalkeeper one of his famous hugs.

No wonder. Not only was Kelleher’s man-of-the-match performance on his Champions League debut just the boost Klopp needed at a time when first team regulars are dropping like flies – reaching the last 16 means the manager can afford to rest key players against the Danish champions.

Kelleher’s performance drew rave reviews from our studio panel. As well as his crucial saves, Niall and Damien Delaney were most impressed with how cool Kelleher looked on what was the biggest night of his young career. He backed it up in Sunday’s win over Wolves, where the only mistake was in the spelling of the name on his jersey!

Ajax v Atalanta (Virgin Media Sport Extra 2) will be worth a watch in the other early kick-off to see who joins Liverpool in the last 16 from Group D, but the chance to watch an Irishman starring in the Champions League will be hard to ignore.

After all, what’s rare is wonderful.

Real Madrid v Borussia Moenchengladbach – Wednesday 8pm – Virgin Media Two

If it’s nailbiting drama you’re looking for on the final night of the Champions League group stage, Group B is the place to go.

All four teams – Borussia Moenchengladbach, Shakhtar Donetsk, Real Madrid and Inter Milan – can still qualify for the last 16. Incredibly, Real and Inter, the two big guns in the group, could both miss out.

And they say the Champions League group stage has gotten too predictable!

Real need a win at home to the German side to reach the knockout stages for the 24th consecutive season. But given how poor they were in losing 2-0 away to Shakhtar last week, there’s every chance we could see the unthinkable happen: Real Madrid in the Europa League.

As if this year hasn’t been strange enough…

Online Editors