Three sporting events to watch this week: Your handy guide to sport on television

Champions League

Believe it or not, qualifying for the 2023-24 Champions League began in June. The serious business, however, begins this week with the start of the group stages. And, by the middle of December, we’ll know the names of the 16 teams who will play in the knockout stages. Highlights this week include AC Milan hosting Newcastle United – who return to the competition for the first time in two decades – and Manchester United’s trip to Bayern Munich. – RTÉ, Virgin Media & TNT Sports

Solheim Cup

The women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup takes place this week at the Finca Cortesin in Casares, Andalusia in Spain. The biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers from Europe and the United States consists of four foursome and four fourball matches on both Friday and Saturday, and then 12 singles matches on Sunday. Europe, the reigning champions, include Cavan’s Leona Maguire among their ranks. – Sep 22nd-24th, Sky Sports

MMA

Mixed martial arts is back in Dublin at the weekend with the main event in the Bellator MMA event being the middleweight world championship bout between Johnny “The Human Cheat Code” Eblen (13-0) and challenger Fabian “The Assassin” Edwards (12-2). Also on the card, in the women’s featherweight division, is Dubliner Sinead Kavanagh, who will square off against Australian Sara Collins. The preliminary card includes Waterford’s Peter Queally, Laois’ Charlie Ward, Louth’s Ciaran Clarke and Wexford’s Brian Moore. – Saturday, Virgin Media

MONDAY (Sep 18th)

• NFL – Sky Sports NFL – 1.20am Miami Dolphins @ NE Patriots
• RACING – TG4, 2.35pm-6pm Listowel Festival
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Serie A – 5.30pm Salernitana v Torino; 7.45pm Hellas Verona v Bologna
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Premier League – 7.45pm Nottingham Forest v Burnley
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Irish Premiership – 7.45pm Crusaders v Cliftonville
• SOCCER – LaLigaTV & Premier Sports 1 – La Liga – 8pm Granada v Girona
• GAA – TG4, 8pm-9pm Club highlights
• RUGBY – RTÉ 2, 8pm-9pm Against the Head

TUESDAY (Sep 19th)

• NFL – Sky Sports Arena – 0.15am New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers
• NFL – Sky Sports Action – 1.15am Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers
• RACING – TG4, 2.30pm-6pm Listowel Festival
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Champions League – 5.45pm Milan v Newcastle
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Champions League – 5.45pm Young Boys v Leipzig
• SOCCER Sky Sports Football Red Button – Championship – 7.45pm Bristol City v Plymouth; 7.45pm Cardiff v Coventry; 7.45pm QPR v Swansea; 7.45pm Southampton v Ipswich
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Arena – Championship – 7.45pm Preston NE v Birmingham
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Championship – 8pm Sheffield Wednesday v Middlesbrough
• SOCCER – RTÉ 2 & TNT Sports 1 – Champions League – 8pm Feyenoord v Celtic
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 2 – Champions League – 8pm Man City v RS Belgrade
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Champions League – 8pm PSG v Borussia Dortmund
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 4 – Champions League – 8pm Barcelona v Royal Antwerp
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 6/7 – Champions League – 8pm Lazio v Atlético Madrid; 8pm Shakhtar Donetsk v Porto

WEDNESDAY (Sep 20th)

• CRICKET – Sky Sports Cricket from noon – 1st ODI England v Ireland
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 1.30pm-5pm European Championships
• RACING – TG4, 2pm-6pm Listowel Festival
• RUGBY – Virgin Media Two & ITV4 – World Cup – 4.45pm Italy v Uruguay
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Champions League – 5.45pm Real Madrid v Union Berlin
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Champions League – 5.45pm Galatasaray v Copenhagen
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football Red Button – Championship – 7.45pm Blackburn v Sunderland; 7.45pm Huddersfield v Stoke; 7.45pm Hull v Leeds; 7.45pm Millwall v Rotherham; 7.45pm Watford v West Brom
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Championship – 8pm Norwich v Leicester
• SOCCER – Virgin Media Two & TNT Sports 2 – Champions League – 8pm Bayern Munich v Man Utd
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Champions League – 8pm Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Champions League – 8pm Real Sociedad v Inter
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 4 – Champions League – 8pm Sporting Braga v Napoli
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 6/7 – Champions League – 8pm Sevilla v Lens; 8pm Benfica v Salzburg
• CRICKET – BBC 2, 0.15am-1.15am – England v Ireland highlights

THURSDAY (Sep 21st)

• GOLF – Sky Sports Mix, 12.30pm-5.30pm Open de France
• RACING – TG4, 1.30pm-5.30pm Listowel Festival
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 2.30pm-4.30pm European Championships
• GOLF – Sky Sports Golf, 5pm-6.30pm Solheim Cup (Opening Ceremony)
• SOCCER – Virgin Media Two & TNT Sports 1 – Europa League – 5.45pm LASK v Liverpool; 8pm Brighton v AEK Athens
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 2 – Europa Conference League – 5.45pm Legia Warsaw v Aston Villa; Europa League – 8pm West Ham v Backa Topola
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Europa Conference League – 5.45pm Eintracht Frankfurt v Aberdeen; Europa League – 8pm Rangers v Real Betis
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 4 – Europa League – 5.45pm Union Saint-Gilloise v Toulouse; Europa League – 8pm Ajax v Marseille
• RUGBY – RTÉ 2 & ITV4 – World Cup – 8pm France v Namibia

FRIDAY (Sep 22nd)

• NFL – Sky Sports NFL – 1.15am New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers
• F1 – Sky Sports F1 from 3am – Practice Japanese Grand Prix
• GOLF – Sky Sports Golf, 6.30am-7pm Solheim Cup
• CANOEING – BBC Red Button, 10am-12.10pm, 1.30pm-3.15pm, 5.50pm-9.45pm Canoe Slalom World Championship
• GOLF – Sky Sports Mix, 12.30pm-5.30pm Open de France
• RACING – TGG, 1.55pm-6pm Listowel Festival
• RUGBY – RTÉ 2 & UTV – World Cup – 4.45pm Argentina v Samoa
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 2 – Serie A – 5.30pm Salernitana v Frosinone; 7.45pm Lecce v Genoa
• GOLF – BBC 2, 7pm-8pm Solheim Cup highlights
• GOLF – Sky Sports Mix – Bundesliga – 7.30pm Stuttgart v SV Darmstadt 98
• SOCCER – Virgin Media Two – Airtricity League Premier Division – 7.45pm St Patrick’s Athletic v Dundalk
• SOCCER – ITV4 – Women’s Nations League – 7.45pm England v Scotland
• RUGBY – TNT Sports 1 – Premiership Cup – 7.45pm Gloucester v Harlequins
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Championship – 8pm Birmingham v QPR
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Ligue 1 – 8pm Monaco v Nice
• SOCCER – LaLigaTV & Premier Sports 1 – La Liga – 8pm Alavés v Athletic Bilbao
• TENNIS – Eurosport 1, 9pm-1am Laver Cup

SATURDAY (Sep 23rd)

• F1 – Sky Sports F1 from 3.15am – Practice & Qualifying Japanese Grand Prix
• GOLF – Sky Sports Golf, 6.30am-7pm Solheim Cup
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 7.15am-8.45am – Stage 1 Tour of Langkwai
• CRICKET – Sky Sports Cricket from 10.30am – 2nd ODI England v Ireland
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 12.30pm-4pm European Championships
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Scottish Premiership – 12.30pm Livingston v Celtic
• GOLF – Sky Sports Mix, 12.30pm-5pm Open de France
• SOCCER – RTÉ 2 – Women’s Nations League – 1pm Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland
• RUGBY – UTV & Virgin Media Two – World Cup – 1pm Georgia v Portugal
• SOCCER – LaLigaTV & Premier Sports – La Liga – 1pm Girona v Mallorca; 3.15pm Osasuna v Sevilla; 5.30pm Barcelona v Celta Vigo; 8pm Almería v Valencia
• RACING – ITV4, 1pm-4pm; Virgin Media One, 1.30pm-4.15pm Ayr & Newbury
• RACING – TG4, 2pm-6pm Listowel Festival
• SOCCER – Premier Sports 1 – Premier League – 3pm Man City v Nottingham Forest
• MMA – Virgin Media Two from 4pm – Dublin Johnny Eblen v Fabian Edwards
• GAA – RTÉ 2 – Dublin SFC Quarter-final – 4.45pm Kilmacud Crokes v Ballymun Kickhams
• RUGBY – UTV & Virgin Media One – World Cup – 4.45pm England v Chile
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Serie A – 5pm Sassuolo v Juventus
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Premier League – 5.30pm Brentford v Everton
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Bundesliga – 5.30pm Werder Bremen v Cologne
• GOLF – BBC Four, 7pm-8pm Solheim Cup highlights
• BOXING – TNT Sports 2 from 7.30pm – London Zhilei Zhang v Joe Joyce
• CRICKET – BBC 2, 7.35pm-8.35pm England v Ireland highlights
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Serie A – 7.45pm Lazio v Monza
• RUGBY – RTÉ 2 & UTV – World Cup – 8pm South Africa v Ireland
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Premier League – 8pm Burnley v Man Utd
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 4 – Ligue 1 – 8pm Brest v Lyon
• SOCCER – BBC 1, 10.30pm-11.45pm Match of the Day
• TENNIS – Eurosport 1, 9pm-1am Laver Cup

SUNDAY (Sep 24th)

• F1 – Sky Sports F1 from 4.30am Japanese Grand Prix
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 6.15am-7.45am – Stage 2 Tour of Langkwai
• GOLF – Sky Sports Golf, 9am-6pm Solheim Cup
• MOTOGP – TNT Sports 2 from 10.30am GP of India
• CYCLING – Eurosport 1, 11.30am-4.15pm European Championships
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Serie A – 11.30am Empoli v Inter; 2pm Atalanta v Cagliari; 5pm Bologna v Napoli
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Ligue 1 – Noon Metz v Strasbourg
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Championship – Noon Stoke v Hull
• GOLF – Sky Sports Mix, noon-5pm Open de France
• SOCCER – LaLigaTV & Premier Sports – La Liga – 1pm Real Sociedad v Getafe; 3.15pm Rayo Vallecano v Villarreal; 5.30pm Las Palmas v Granada; 5.30pm Real Betis v Cádiz
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Premier League – 2pm Arsenal v Tottenham; 4.30pm Sheffield Utd v Newcastle
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 3 – Serie A – 2pm Udinese v Fiorentina
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 2 – Ligue 1 – 2pm Lens v Toulouse; 4.05pm Montpellier v Rennes
• GAA – TG4 – Offaly SHC – 2.15pm Ferbane v Tullamore; Clare SHC – 4.15pm Clonlara v Éire Óg Ennis
• SOCCER – Sky Sports Football – Bundesliga – 2.30pm Bayer Leverkusen v Heidenheim 1846; 4.30pm Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg
• RUGBY – RTÉ 2 & UTV – World Cup – 4.45pm Scotland v Tonga
• RUGBY – Virgin Media One & UTV – World Cup – 8pm Wales v Australia
• NFL – Sky Sports NFL – 6pm New England Patriots @ New York Jets; 9.25pm Chicago Bears @ Kansas City Chiefs; 1.20am Pittsburgh Steelers @ Las Vegas Raiders
• GOLF – BBC 2, 7pm-8pm Solheim Cup highlights
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 2 – Serie A – 7.45pm Torino v Roma
• SOCCER – TNT Sports 1 – Ligue 1 – 7.45pm PSG v Marseille
• SOCCER – LaLigaTV, Premier Sports & ITV4 – La Liga – 8pm Atlético Madrid v Real Madrid
• TENNIS – Eurosport 1, 8pm-4am Laver Cup
• SOCCER – BBC 1, 10.30pm-11.50pm Match of the Day 2