European Cup Fixtures Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & Additional Games
Welcome to another night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, including three English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.
Current Standings
We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, so the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Tonight’s Fixtures
Here are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:
- Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
- Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Man City v Leverkusen
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Squad Updates
Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.
Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.
Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Vincic (Slovenian).
Historical Context
The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.
Initial Game Reports
Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct 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 Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.
