Champions League Matches This Evening: Marseille v Newcastle & Additional Games
Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are planned for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
League Table
We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
This Evening's Games
These are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Man City v Leverkusen
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Lineup Changes
Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.
The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Historical Context
The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.
Early Match Updates
Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.
