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

Welcome to a fresh night of exciting Champions League football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with three British teams in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the standout match of the night, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. All six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.