Champions League Action This Evening: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More

Welcome to a fresh evening of exciting European Cup football. Nine matches are scheduled for tonight, with three English clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

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 manager, whose side 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.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.