Champions League Action This Evening: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games

Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, including 3 British teams in play. The Blues meet Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, so the standings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

  • Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
  • Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
  • Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
  • Chelsea v Barcelona
  • Dortmund v Villarreal
  • Leverkusen visit Man City
  • Marseille v Newcastle
  • Napoli v Qarabag
  • Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.
Mrs. Shannon Owens MD
Mrs. Shannon Owens MD

A passionate cyclist and gear reviewer with over a decade of experience in the biking industry.