So, the Champions League is back and oh how we've missed it. Tonight, we're in Turkey and it's safe to say the Galatasaray fans will herald the return of this competition in typical Galatasaray fashion. With more hostility than a Middle-Eastern uprising, and more flares than Woodstock, these football-crazy locals will hope to make the Turk Telekom Arena hell on earth for Atletico Madrid tonight. After all, Manchester United were greeted by a famous 'welcome to hell' banner upon touching down in Istanbul airport in 1993. Yep. These boys make Lucifer and his cohorts look softer than Cliff Richard throwing rolls of Charmin at Westlife.

How well equipped are both sides to get their Group C campaign underway with a win then? Let's have a look at this before team news.

We'll start with the Turkish champions and, with five points from a possible 12, the defence of their title is going about as well as Chelsea's in the Premier League. They come into this on the back of a 1-1 home draw with Mersin (don't ask) and overall Hamza Hamzaoglu's men have won once, lost twice and drawn one. That's what happens when you release Emmanuel Eboue.

In contrast, Atletico's start to the Primera Liga was going quite well, having won their opening two, but they were humbled 2-1 by a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday night. The little man came off the bench to hit the winner but, all things being equal, we can't read too much into that because, you know, Barca are quite good. Just a bit.

Right, we've got team news stocked and ready. But first, did you know that Galatasaray fans were officially the loudest in sport until 2012? This is true. Here's Wesley Sneijder orchestrating them. This happens before every Galatasaray game. Maybe.

GALA XI: Muslera, Sabri, Semih, Denayer, Carole, Selçuk, Hakan Balta, Emre Çolak, Sneijder, Burak, Podolski

ATLETI XI: Oblak; Juanfran, Godin, Gimenez, Siqueira, Tiago, Saul, Koke; Vietto, Griezmann, Martinez

GALA SUBS: Gonen; Gunter, Oztekin, Rodriguez, Adin, Bulut, Gumus

ATLETI SUBS: Moya, Savic, Gamez, Oliver, Torres, Correa, Gabi

First, Galatasaray, and Hamzaoglu continues with a two-pronged attack of ex-Arsenal man Lukas Podolski and Burak Yilmaz up top. And, of course, the superb Wesley Sneijder is tucked in behind them. There's also room for young Manchester City defender Jason Denayer, who is on loan with the Turkish giants.

On to the Spanish giants now and Simeone elects for more changes than 60-Minute Makeover. Well, it's only four, but only one of those was forced. Firstly, the injured Filipe Luis drops out at left-back for Guilherme Siqueira. In midfield, Gabi and Oliver are displaced by Saul and Luciano Vietto - who earns his full debut - while Jackson Martinez spearheads the attack in place of Fernando Torres.

We've already spoken about the atmosphere awaiting Atletico tonight. But will it have an impact on their performance? Not according to midfielder Koke, who says that it's 11 versus 11 at the end of the day. He told a press conference: "Since we were small, we have played in all kinds of grounds. It is the same to us. The important thing is to win the game. We are ready for a hostile atmosphere - we have already experienced it in Greece [last year against Olympiakos]. Aside from that, we play 11 against 11."

Is he right? Probably. Arsenal won 4-1 here last year. Borussia Dortmund won 4-0. Anderlecht were minutes away from winning 1-0 but Yilmaz struck a last-minute equaliser. The previous season, Real Madrid won 6-1 in front of these fans! Their supporters may be a 12th man of sorts, but if that 12th man is Emile Heskey or Andriy Voronin then don't expect much difference.

That's enough myth busting - now let's look at some head-to-head records, shall we?

Somewhat ominously for the hosts, they've never beaten Atletico in a competitive outing. Nope. Well, they've only had four. The Spaniards earned a 1-0 aggregate win in this competitions in 1973, with Atletico then triumphing in 3-1 over two legs in a last-16 contest in 2010. Jose Antonio Reyes, Diego Forlan and Simao scored the goals. They have won their only two games here. Heaven or hell?

0 - Galatasaray have never beaten Atletico Madrid (D2 L2) in Europe and lost both of their meetings at home v Los Colchoneros. Reversal? — OptaCan (@OptaCan) September 15, 2015

PREDICTION! Right, it's time to get a prediction wrong, and we're going 3-1 Atletico tonight. As discussed, their partisan support will do little to effect on-the-field matters and they should have too much quality here. So, 3-1. With the likes of Martinez, Griezmann, and Torres on the bench, they should have too much firepower here.

Speaking of firepower, either Leicester City winger Marc Albrighton has beef with Atletico, or one Galasataray fan has gone above and beyond in his efforts to intimidate the visitors tonight.

A Galatasaray fan welcomes Atletico Madrid to Istanbul! pic.twitter.com/2C24hJUZIe — TheAtletiZone (@TheAtletiZone) September 15, 2015

Fifteen minutes to go. Let's have a look at one or two predictions from the world of Twitter.

This apparent Barcelona fan is backing a home win, presuming he means Galatasaray.

@TheAtletiZone I say 2-1, you can't underestimate Galtarasay. Very good going forward

— Zeiad (@FTZeiad) September 15, 2015

We can't fault his optimism.

@ChampionsLeague Atleti 6-0

— João (@jpalbneto) September 15, 2015

Meanwhile, this fellow has lept ahead and predicted the return fixture instead. We like his style.

Prediction: Finally, Átletico Madrid 3-0 Galatasaray.

— • (@UtdDi) September 15, 2015

So Galatasaray or Atletico or?

My prediction: This Thursday, the Fed will announce they are willing to accept large-denomination platinum coins for deposit after all. — Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 15, 2015

Before we kick off the Champions League season, let's look ahead to the Premier League. Fancy going to the Etihad Stadium to see high-flying Manchester City host West Ham United? If so, and if you're a UK resident, then simply send the following tweet and you could be seeing Yaya Toure and co at the weekend: "Hey @SportsMole, I'd love to win tickets to Man City vs. West Ham!" Note: you need to be following our official Twitter page to be in the hat. More info available HERE!

KICKOFF: And we're off in Hell. And it's loud and all, but there's no fire or demons holding pitchforks. But it's early days. Let's go.

It's been a fast and furious start by the visitors, who have bossed the possession stakes early on and, despite the fans, it'll be a very tough game for the hosts this.

Simeone has gone 4-4-2 by the look of things, with Vietto and action Jackson Martinez as the focal points but they're yet to get into the game at all.

Muslera is off his line well to clear the danger. It's a really long ball from Godin as Martinez looks to run on to it, but the keeper is alert and clears away. One early observation is that the hosts' defensive line is higher than a few tourists in Amsterdam.

Ten minutes in then and we're still goalless. It's been a quiet start to this one by both sides, but especially from the hosts, who haven't been allowed anywhere near Atleti's box.

SHOT We've seen the first meaningful attempt on goal - and it's never going to test Muslera as Vietto's curling effort is straight at the Gala stopper.

What a brilliant, brilliant goal by the visitors. They've been having luck down the left-hand side all night, and right-back Juanfran pulls back for the Frenchman, whose first-time effort with the side of his foot leaves Muslera with no chance. Top-class finish that I must say.

CLOSE! Galatasaray's defece is a bit shaky and Saul Niguez blazes just over the bar from outside the box. Atletico have bossed this first 20 minutes.

An already dreadful start from the hosts has gotten worse. Much worse. Koke's corner is headed by Godin, and Griezmann, with an acre of space, is on hand to volley it into an empty net. Too easy.

SHOT! Good response by the hosts and Podolski, on his weaker right foot, fires well wide. Still, promising from Gala but it's already such a big ask.

SHOT! Again better from the Turkish champions as Sneijder looks to catch Oblak with his pants down by disguising a shot, but the Atletico stopper beats it away at his near post. Good save.

SUB: Well, this says it all. Gala make a sub already as Umut Bulut replaces Emre Colak. 100% tactical. Colak sprinted off! Will it do anything? It's unlikely.

We've seen nothing from Burak Yilmaz so far. It was just a few years ago that he rivalled Messi and Ronaldo for the golden boot in this competition but he's done nothing tonight.

There's such a gulf in quality here folks. It's only 2-0 but it might end up as any number. It's just one-way traffic. Utter dominance. Eight minutes until the break and Hamzaoglu can't wait to reach the break.

CLOSE! Vietto looks certain to head home Griezmann's ball, but Denayer, who's been excellent in this half, gets it away for a corner, which came to nothing.

CLOSE! A home goal would really change the complexion of Hamzaoglu's half-time spiel, and Bulut's glancing header drifts just wide of the mark. Better by the hosts.

Good, good defending from Godin here as Podolski plays in Bulut, who looks like poking home but the Uruguayan got in well. From the resulting corner, Denayer heads agonisingly wide and Gala are coming back into it now - but it's too late for this half. The break is in, hmm, one minute.

So, that's it for one half. Griezmann's brace has Atletico in full control but a couple of chances from Bulut, and one from Denayer, has restored optimism that the second half might just be a different story for Galatasaray.

KICKOFF: We're back! And Gala make their second sub as Yasin Öztekin replaces Sabri Sarıoğlu. Let's go.

They did end that first half very well but it remains to be seen if the 15-minute break would have stifled their momentum any. Let's find out. They're bossing possession so far.

SHOT! Good start but Bulut fires well wide, but it's promising.

Poor delivery from Koke as his free kick floats right into Muslera's hands.

CHANCE! This has to go down as a chance. With a left foot as sweet as Podolski's, he really should be scoring here. Denayer plays it to him on the edge of the area, but his first-time hit has plenty of power but not enough direction as it goes wide.

SHOT! Indeed, Hamzaoglu's side have indeed started well here, as Sneijder is the next to try his luck but his effort flies narrowly over the bar. Oblak wasn't getting to it.

SHOT! So poor from Martinez. Atletico attack in a three-on-two situation but, instead of playing in the unmarked Vietto, who would've only had to beat Muslera, the Colombian striker fired a tame left-footed effort from the edge of the box and Muslera made a simple save.

CLOSE! Superb end-to-end clash now as Inan fires agonisingly wide of Oblak's post. There's goals in this for Galatasaray.

SUB: Looks like Martinez has paid the price for his selfish play as he's replaced by Fernando Torres.

SUB: Another sub now as Gabi replaces the poor Vietto, who didn't do much it has to be said.

CHANCE! Poor Hamzaoglu is having kittens on the sidelines, and rightly so because this is another chance wasted as Podolski's cross is headed wide by Bulut.

Right, we're 20 minutes from the end and, although it's been a much-improved second half from Gala, it's still not good enough.

BOOKING: First booking now as Yasin Öztekin receives a yellow card for a rotten challenge. Rightly booked.

The sting has been taken out of this one somewhat. Gala still pouring forward but their final-third fluency isn't as crisp as it once was.

PENALTY APPEAL! It sounds like a scene from The Grey as Gala fans whistle the referee for awarding an Atletico free kick instead of a Gala penalty

SUB: One last sub by Atletico now as Oliver Torres replaces Saul Niguez. Nine to play!

Excellent work from Griezmann as he gallops away from Gumus before winning a free kick, which will be grateful by Atletico because the hosts were enjoying a good spell there. Six to play. Unless something remarkable happens, it's ending 2-0 folks.

Sniejder's delivery has been woeful tonight. He's just wasted ANOTHER corner as Atletico clear their lines. Poor.

That's it! Two goals from Antoine Griezmann is enough as the visitors kick off their Group C campaign with a win. Hell? What hell. This was easy for Atletico. Too easy. Anywho, that's us. Cheers for joining our live coverage and we'll see you tomorrow for EIGHT more games. Until then...