Champions League Fixtures Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & More

Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, including 3 English teams in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, so the table is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s fixtures, all starting 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
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

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

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.