🔗 Share this article

Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are set for tonight, with three British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the key match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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