The progress of African football is undeniable, and there is plenty of evidence to back that up.Four years ago, Morocco achieved a landmark feat by reaching the World Cup semi-finals. At the 2026 WC, several national teams from the "mother continent" – such as Cabo Verde, Egypt, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and others – proved they could compete with European sides. And another milestone for African football will be reached today in France.Tonight at 10 pm at the Parc des Princes, as referee Mykola Balakin gets the Paris Saint-Germain-Slovan Bratislava match underway, Yaya Toure will officially become the first African manager to coach a team in the Champions League.🚨🌍 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪?Yaya Touré is about to make Champions League history. 💫🏆🇨🇮 First African manager to lead a team in the Champions League main stage.🧑💼 First senior head-coaching job.🏆 Guided Slovan Bratislava through qualifying.🏟️ First UCL match as a… pic.twitter.com/cqoCE5ejPo— CASTED HUNTER💙❤️ (@CastedHunterHQ) September 9, 2026 Two weeks after knocking out Slovenian club Celje in the last round of the UCL qualifiers and a little over two months after becoming a head coach for the first time, the Ivorian will add another extraordinary achievement to his CV.Naturally, he was proud of himself, but didn't want to make it about himself during the pre-match press conference. Instead, he turned his focus to the development of African football."It is true that it feels a bit strange." ##EDITORS_CHOICE##"But on a personal level it is really nice. This is an important new era. We can say that things are now changing and moving forward.""There are people who are brave enough to take young coaches, who are eager to work, who want to move things forward in a positive way," Toure said, as quoted by Flashscore.However, the challenge ahead of the 43-year-old and his men is as difficult as it gets – the back-to-back Champions League winners, PSG.Truth be told, the French powerhouse has made a terrible start to the new season, winning only one of its five games so far.Yaya Toure is in the African history books againPSG have been winless in their previous four matches, with the latest defeat to Monaco (2-1) in Ligue 1 seeing them drop to 14th in the standings and setting off alarm bells at the Parc des Princes.A slow start was a common phenomenon for Luis Enrique's team in the past few seasons, but a crisis of this magnitude is unprecedented.Will the Parisians take out the frustration on Slovan, the UCL underdogs from Slovakia, or will Yaya and his lads find a way to pile on the misery?UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEROUND 1TuesdayAEK – LASK 1-0 (1-0) /Marin 21/Club Brugge – Aston Villa 2-3 (1-3)/Vetlesen 19, Tresoldi 61 pen – McGinn 11, Buendia 22, Jackson 43/Porto – Manchester City 0-2 (0-0)/Haaland 47, 90+1/Dortmund – Villarreal 3-2 (0-0)/Veiga 53 og, Guirassy 80, 85 pen – Mourino 66, Guirassy 90+3 og/Lille – Betis 2-3 (2-1)/Ueda 12, Ribeiro 36 – Bartra 33,49, Parrott 53/Real Madrid – Inter 2-1 (2-0)/Mbappe 14, Valverde 23 – Augusto 77/Wednesday19.45: (1.08) Barcelona (13.0) Feyenoord (20.0) 19.45: (1.23) Stuttgart (6.75) Viking (11.0) 22.00: (1.75) Liverpool (3.90) Atl.Madrid (4.50) 22.00: (4.90) Napoli (3.60) Arsenal (1.75) 22.00: (1.05) PSG (14.0) Slovan B. (35.0) 22.00: (1.90) Sporting (3.50) Galatasaray (4.10) Thursday19.45: (3.15) Fenerbahce (3.45) Roma (2.25)19.45: (1.43) PSV (4.60) Shakhtar (7.25)22.00: (1.10) Bayern (10.0) Bodo (16.0)22.00: (1.95) Como (3.50) RB Leipzig (3.90) 22.00: (1.10) Man.Utd. (11.0) Sabah (18.0) 22.00: (2.60) Slavia Praha (3.35) Lens (2.70)***odds are subject to change***
90