Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are planned for tonight, including three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.
Current Standings
It's the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.
This Evening's Games
These are tonight’s matches, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
- Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Squad Updates
Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Previous Encounters
The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.
Initial Game Reports
Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.
