After the longest season in history, the Champions League is back and we're braced for another frenetic few weeks of football

For reporters attending matches, it means filing on the whistle and overnight on an almost daily basis, writes Ben Burrows

Chelsea kick off their Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich only a week after losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal (EPA)

Just when you thought the football was finally over, it’s back.

Yes, 10 short days after the longest league season in football history was at last completed, the Premier League big boys are back in action again this week.

For Chelsea, that break has been just seven days and they will kick off their Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich only a week after losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal at Wembley on Saturday.

Manchester United are first up, welcoming Lask of Austria to Old Trafford on Wednesday for the second-leg of their own last-16 clash, this time in the Europa League.

They will have designs on winning Europe’s second-tier competition for the second time in three years and giving boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his first trophy as a manager.

Rivals Manchester City will also be in action on Friday when 14-time champions of Europe, Real Madrid, head to the Etihad Stadium with Pep Guardiola desperate to add the one trophy to the cabinet he hasn’t won in his glittering time in Manchester.

With Wolves and Rangers back on the field too, it all adds up to another hectic schedule of wall-to-wall football with games pretty much every day for the next three weeks for sports journalists to cover.

For the reporters attending the matches in both Germany and Lisbon, where the knockout rounds are being held, it means filing on the whistle and overnight on an almost daily basis – not to mention the all-important previews and reviews before and after.

For those back home on the sports desk, it means more night shifts and, from an editor’s point of view, more rota gymnastics as we try to give the highest standard of club football the justice it deserves.

It’ll be a frenetic fortnight but with the world’s best players again on show, one well worth tuning in for.

Yours,

Ben Burrows
Sports editor