Champions League Action Tonight: Chelsea v Barcelona & More

Welcome to another night of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are scheduled for tonight, including 3 British teams in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. All six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

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