European Cup Action Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games

Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s games, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.