🔗 Share this article

Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, including three English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barça in the key match of the night, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the rankings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points separating 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.