Champions League Fixtures Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More

Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, with three British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the standout match of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the table is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

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

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) 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, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.