Champions League Action Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More
Welcome to a fresh night of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine games are set for this evening, with 3 English clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
League Table
It's the midway point of the league phase, meaning the rankings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
These are this evening'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
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Team News
Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.
Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Previous Encounters
The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.
Early Match Updates
Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.
Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.