European Cup Action Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games

Welcome to another night of thrilling European Cup football. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, with 3 British clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. All six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss 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 points from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.