Champions League Fixtures Tonight: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & Additional Games
Welcome to a fresh night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are planned for this evening, including three British teams in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
Current Standings
We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, so the table is beginning to form. All six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
These are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
- Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Squad Updates
Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.
Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.
The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Previous Encounters
The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.
Initial Game Reports
Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.
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 team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”
We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.
