Champions League Fixtures Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & More
Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are scheduled for tonight, including 3 British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.
Group Rankings
We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. All six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
These are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:
- Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
- Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
- Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Lineup Changes
Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.
Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.
Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Historical Context
The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.
Initial Game Reports
Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.
Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”
We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.
