🔗 Share this article

Greetings to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, including 3 English teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the key match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.