European Cup Matches This Evening: Marseille v Newcastle & More

Welcome to another evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s fixtures, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

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

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.