🔗 Share this article

Welcome to another night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, featuring three English teams in action. The Blues face Barça in the standout match of the night, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.