🔗 Share this article

Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. All six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early 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 different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.