European Cup Matches This Evening: Marseille v Newcastle & More
Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, including 3 English teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.
Current Standings
It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.
Match Schedule
Here are this evening's matches, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Squad Updates
Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.
Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).
Previous Encounters
The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.
Initial Game Reports
Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.
Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille
Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.
Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.
