Marseille v Newcastle, Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen, and more: Champions League – live

4 days ago 11

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Marseille v Newcastle team news

Eddie Howe makes three changes to the team that beat Manchester City. Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon and Joe Willock replace Lewis Hall, Joelinton and Nick Woltemade. Burn and Gordon are returning after suspension and injury respectively.

Mason Greenwood, the leading scorer in Ligue 1 with 10, starts for Marseille. Andre Gomes is on the bench.

Marseille (possible 4-2-3-1) Rulli; Weah, Pavard, Balerdi, Emerson Palmieri;
Vermeeren, Hojbjerg; Greenwood, Bakola, Igor Paixao; Aubameyang.

Subs: de Lange, Van Neck, Egan-Riley, Garcia, Gomes, O’Riley, Kondogbia, Nadir, Vaz, Mmadi.

Newcastle (4-3-3) Pope; Livramento, Thiaw, Schar, Burn; Bruno Guimaraes,
Tonali, Willock; J Murphy, Gordon, Barnes.

Subs: Thompson, Ramsdale, Hall, Botman, Joelinton, Elanga, Woltemade,
Alex Murphy, Ramsey, Miley, Alabi.

Referee Maurizio Mariani (Italy)

Man City v Leverkusen team news

Crikey, stop the press: Pep Guardiola has made ten changes from the defeat at Newcastle. Nico Gonzalez stays in the starting XI; the rest are on the bench.

The Leverkusen team includes former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah.

Man City (possible 4-3-3) Trafford; Khusanov, Stones, Ake, Ait Nouri; Lewis, Gonzalez, Reijnders; Bobb, Marmoush, Savinho.

Subs: Bettinelli, Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Cherki, Doku, Silva, Matheus Nunes, Foden, O’Reilly, Gvardiol.

Bayer Leverkusen (possible 3-4-2-1) Flekken; Quansah, Bade, Belocian; Poku, Garcia, Maza, Grimaldo; Tillman, Kofane; Schick.

Subs: Lomb, Echeverri, Ben Seghir, Tella, Jeremiah Mensah, Culbreath, Hawighorst, Pohl, Schlich, Naba Mensah.

Referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro (Portugal)

Chelsea v Barcelona team news

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won 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.

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica™ a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France on Monday fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said a manager whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

Preamble

Hello and welcome to another orgy of Champions League football. There are nine games tonight, with three English teams involved. Chelsea meet Barcelona* in the match of the night, Newcastle go to Marseille and Manchester City – vulnerable away but magnificent at home – host Bayer Leverkusen.

We’re at the halfway point of the league stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six English teams are in the top 12 – but there are only two points between fifth and sixteenth, so there’s a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

These are tonight’s games, all 8pm kick-offs unless stated.