European Cup Matches Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & More

Greetings to another night of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, including three English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.