🔗 Share this article

Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League football. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the league stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

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

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.