Champions League Action This Evening: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More

Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 matches are planned for tonight, including three British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway point of the league phase, meaning the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s matches, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. 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 sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.