Champions League Matches Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games
Welcome to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, featuring three English teams in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
Current Standings
It's the midway point of the league phase, so the rankings is taking form. All six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
This Evening's Games
Here are this evening's fixtures, each 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
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Man City v Leverkusen
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Lineup Changes
Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Official Vincic (Slovenia).
Past Meetings
The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.
Early Match Updates
Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”
We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.
