Champions League Fixtures Tonight: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More

Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are planned for tonight, with 3 English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the league stage, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only two points between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win 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 European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.