🔗 Share this article

Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, with 3 British teams in play. The Blues take on Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the table is taking form. All six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.