European Cup Matches Tonight: Marseille v Newcastle & Additional Games

Greetings to a fresh night of thrilling European Cup soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, with three English teams in play. The Blues take on Barça in the standout fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s fixtures, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (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
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Team News

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

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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