European Cup Matches Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More

Greetings to another night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, including three British teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the key match of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal 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 notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.