European Cup Matches This Evening: Marseille v Newcastle & Additional Games
Greetings to another evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. The Blues take on Barça in the standout match of the night, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.
Group Rankings
It's the halfway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
These are tonight’s matches, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Lineup Changes
Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.
Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.
The Blues (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Past Meetings
The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.
Initial Game Reports
Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.