Real Madrid will play Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night in the Champions League. The group stages of Europe's biggest football competition is finally getting underway today, and Cristiano Ronaldo and co. will be desperate to get their campaign off to a winning start. The game has a scheduled start time of 7.45 p.m. BST (2.45 p.m. ET) and can be watched online through live stream via the link below.

Tonight's big Champions League game takes place at the Bernabeu in Madrid, and Real will be huge favorites to win the game in front of their home fans.

Real come into tonight's game in amazing form, and in particular Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals last week. If he remains in that form tonight then Shakhtar will need to be at the absolute best to contain him.

Welsh player Gareth Bale is also hitting good form this year, and he has quietened some of the critics who hounded him last season. Bale has insisted that he feels "more involved" at Real this season, and his form has reflected how he is feeling more comfortable this season.

Bale has been given a more central role in the team this year, and he appears more at home in that position, scoring twice already this season, as well as claiming three assists.

The 26 year old has said, "I feel like I am more involved this year now. The first year you are running off adrenalin from having just signed - you are so happy to be at the club and that drives you on. But in the second year I felt a little bit left out wide and not getting so much of the ball but now I feel involved in the play and I think that is showing in the games - that I am able to assist goals and score goals."

Shakhtar will need to find a way to nullify the threat from Bale and Ronaldo, but even if they do, they still have Karim Benzema to deal with, and that trio of attacking players immediately makes Real's attack one of the fiercest in the world.

Whether Shakhtar can cause an upset tonight remains to be seen, but if they can come away from the Bernabeu with anything tonight then they will see it as a job well done.

Tonight's big Champions League game between Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk starts at 7.45 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.