Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, including three British teams in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.
Group Rankings
It's the halfway stage of the league phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th position, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.
Match Schedule
Here are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Lineup Changes
Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.
Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.
Referee Vincic (Slovenia).
Historical Context
The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star 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. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.
Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen 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 Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 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 Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.
