Champions League Matches Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games

Greetings to another evening of exciting European Cup football. 9 games are set for tonight, with 3 English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the marquee match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only two points between 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, 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 peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.