Champions League Action Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More

Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with 3 English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's matches, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct progression 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. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.