European Cup Matches This Evening: Chelsea v Barcelona & More

Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, with three British teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout match of the evening, while Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

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