Champions League Action Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More
Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine matches are set for tonight, with 3 British teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
Group Rankings
It's the midway point of the league phase, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
These are this evening's matches, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:
- Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
- Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Squad Updates
Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.
Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.
The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Previous Encounters
The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.
Initial Game Reports
Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at Ajax.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.
