European Cup Matches This Evening: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games
Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling European Cup football. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, with three English teams in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Leverkusen.
Group Rankings
It's the halfway stage of the group stage, so the table is taking form. Each of the six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Tonight’s Fixtures
These are tonight’s fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
- Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Man City v Leverkusen
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Team News
Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.
The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Official Vincic (Slovenian).
Past Meetings
The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.
Early Match Updates
Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”
We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.