European Cup Matches Tonight: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More
Welcome to another night of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine games are set for tonight, featuring 3 British teams in play. The Blues face Barça in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.
Current Standings
It's the midway stage of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.
This Evening's Games
Here are tonight’s fixtures, all starting at 8pm unless stated:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
- Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
- Barcelona take on Chelsea
- Villarreal meet Dortmund
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Marseille v Newcastle
- Qarabag play Napoli
- Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague
Lineup Changes
Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.
Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.
Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Referee Vincic (Slovenia).
Historical Context
The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.
Initial Game Reports
Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.
Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”
We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.
