MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Real Madrid and Liverpool aim to extend their perfect starts to the Champions League on Wednesday.
Record 15-time European champion Madrid travels to AEK Athens, and six-time winner Liverpool heads to Fenerbahce.
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Manchester City's manager Enzo Maresca speakes during a team's press conference in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, ahead of the Champions League soccer match against RB Leipzig. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)
Liverpool's manager Andoni Iraola smiles before the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Arsenal in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Racing de Santander and Real Madrid in Santander, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
Real Madrid's head coach Jose Mourinho watches during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Racing de Santander and Real Madrid in Santander, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is targeting another Champions League title, following wins with Porto and Inter Milan, but is refusing to look too far ahead.
“It would be the third with three different clubs, and this one with the biggest club in the world. But we are talking about hypothetical situations and I prefer real ones,” Mourinho said. “The reality is that we still need points to qualify. Until we are qualified, I don’t like talking about the round of 16.”
Last season's runner-up Arsenal is at Slavia Prague and Manchester City is away to RB Leipzig.
Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé goes into the game in hot form having scored 15 goals in 14 appearances this season, including seven in his last five.
The France international has scored in each of his last five Champions League appearances.
Teammate Jude Bellingham is on the verge of reaching another Champions League landmark as the youngest player to make 60 appearances in the competition at the age of 23 years and 128 days.
He would overtake longtime Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who was 23 years and 167 days when he reached the same milestone.
Bellingham is already the youngest player to make 50 appearances.
Liverpool is aiming to bounce back from Sunday's Premier League loss to Arsenal.
The Merseyside club lost 1-0 at Anfield, but coach Andoni Iraola believed there were positives to take ahead of the game against Fenerbahce.
“It’s difficult when you lose. But, honestly, I’m happy with a lot of things from the other day,” Iraola said. “Still, we need to improve, especially attacking the box.”
After back-to-back losses in the Premier League, City coach Enzo Maresca has called for an end to costly errors.
City has lost to Aston Villa and Brighton in recent weeks with individual mistakes making the difference.
“Unfortunately it is happening for our players, but I think it is part of the game, part of football. In the last two or three games it has happened many times against us,” Maresca said ahead of the Champions League game against Leipzig. “We need to analyze and understand what we can do better and try to move on.
“For sure we are not happy. The players, me, the coaching staff, the club.”
Paris Saint-Germain set a record as the quickest team to score four goals in the history of the competition, by powering into a 4-0 lead after 17 minutes against Villarreal on its way to a 6-0 win on Tuesday.
Manchester United staged a stunning comeback to recover from its worst start to a European home game by beating Roma 3-2.
Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Bayern Munich won 2-0 at Atletico Madrid.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Manchester City's manager Enzo Maresca speakes during a team's press conference in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, ahead of the Champions League soccer match against RB Leipzig. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)
Liverpool's manager Andoni Iraola smiles before the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Arsenal in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Racing de Santander and Real Madrid in Santander, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
Real Madrid's head coach Jose Mourinho watches during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Racing de Santander and Real Madrid in Santander, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans are voting Wednesday in local elections that are expected to be a tough test for the African National Congress party, which led the country out of white minority rule but has seen a consistent decline in support over the last decade.
The elections will decide who leads South Africa's eight main city municipalities as well as its 44 district and 205 local councils.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa cast his vote in Johannesburg, lauding what he said was a great turnout of people coming out to vote across the country.
“The turnout of our people, as one looks at the TV screens, the queues that are all over the country, just makes this a very special and historic day.
“My view is that we’ve never really, in years, had a local government election like this, where we have so many parties,” said Ramaphosa after casting his vote.
In total, 546 political parties were vying for votes in the elections.
Some voters in Johannesburg told The Associated Press that they were motivated to vote by a decline in basic services.
In Alexandra township, where the road to the River Park Library voting station is filled with potholes, leaking sewage and piles of uncollected waste on the sidewalks, many still came out to cast their ballot.
“When I got my first opportunity to vote, I didn’t think it mattered. But this was important for me, you can see the kind of place we live in. Nothing works here,” said 21-year-old first time voter Karabo Mogano.
In the city of Ekurhuleni, voters at a Methodist Church voting station waited in long queues, saying they hoped their votes would change their local situation.
Parts of the city have been without water for days in the leadup to the elections.
“I started voting in 1994, then it was very exciting. But now I think so many things have changed, even my vote is changing,” said 65-year-old Tembisa resident Raymond Selepe.
In the last local elections in 2021, the ANC won less than 50% of the vote for the first time since the apartheid system of white minority rule ended in 1994.
The ANC then lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in national elections in 2024 — a seismic shift for Africa’s biggest economy — and entered into a national coalition with the second largest party, the Democratic Alliance, and other parties. Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, was reelected president of South Africa.
But while the parties are partners in a national unity government, they are fierce rivals in the local elections. DA political veteran Helen Zille’s quest to be mayor of Johannesburg will test if the DA can win ground away from its traditional support in the second biggest city of Cape Town.
These elections will also be the first local vote contested by the MK Party, led by former South African President Jacob Zuma. Zuma resigned as president because of corruption allegations in 2018 and was expelled from the ANC in 2024 for starting his new party.
It made a surprisingly strong debut in the 2024 national elections to become the third biggest party in Parliament and has strong support in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east of the country.
Voters do not directly elect mayors but choose members of the councils that run cities and pick the mayors.
Polls are expected to close at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
People vote in local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Democratic Alliance (DA) Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille votes for local elections in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man casts his vote during local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
People vote in local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
People wait in line to vote outside a polling station during local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man is pulling a rubbish bin next to a pile of rubbish along the street in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man searches for recyclable materials in a large rubbish container in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa address the media with EU leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, file)
A Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Helen Zille is seen on election billboard in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Election posters hang on a street lamp post in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
