European Cup Action This Evening: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More

Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 games are set for this evening, featuring three British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

• 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
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus 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 Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's 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 coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.