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

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**Champions League Match Night**

Hello and welcome to another orgy of Champions League football. There are nine games tonight, with three English teams involved.

**The Matches**

* Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5:45pm)
* Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5:45pm)
* Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
* Chelsea v Barcelona (8:00pm)
* Dortmund v Villarreal
* Manchester City v Leverkusen
* Marseille v Newcastle
* Napoli v Qarabag
* Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

**Pre-Match Analysis**

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.

**Line-Ups**

* Marseille v Newcastle
+ 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 (possible 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)

**Key Players**

* Marseille v Newcastle: Leonardo Balerdi starts for Marseille and an engaging fellow he is.
* Chelsea v Barcelona: 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.

**The Only Previous Meeting**

* Marseille v 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.
 
I'm telling ya, Newcastle's got this one in the bag 😏. I mean, they're not exactly flying high in the league, but when it comes to away games against teams like Marseille, they've shown some decent form lately. And let's be real, Howe's tactics don't seem that bad considering the team's struggles. The Uefa Cup semi-final win all those years ago is just a nice little bonus to add to their resume 🤷‍♂️. Chelsea and Barcelona are gonna struggle with those new youngsters coming in – Fofana and Caicedo might be a bit of an upgrade for Barca, but they're not gonna know what hit 'em 😆. Marseille's got some decent players too, but I think they'll crumble under the pressure. Benfica and Ajax are already on fire, so let's see if anyone can keep up with those two 🔥.
 
🤯 Did you know that the average Champions League game attendance is around 38,000 fans 📈? And tonight's matches are expected to draw in even more viewers with a global audience of over 450 million people 🌎! The psychological aspect of travel sickness being discussed by Newcastle manager Howe doesn't seem too relevant when considering the massive prize at stake – automatic progression to the knockout phase 🤑. Chelsea, on the other hand, have 55% win rate against Barcelona in all competitions 👊. What's your take on the importance of player rotations and team chemistry in big matches? 🤔
 
the europa league is seriously taking over the uefa champions league rn lol its like they're phasing out the real deal. still, gotta respect how many teams are makin' deep runs in both tournaments 🤣
 
Marseille vs Newcastle is gonna be a wild game 🤩🔥. Both teams are having a rough patch in the league, but they've still got some quality players on their squads. Aubameyang's gonna be a nightmare for Marseille's defense 😏. On the other hand, Newcastle's defense has been pretty shaky, so if Marseille can find their rhythm, they might just pull off an upset 🤞. The question is, can Howe get his team to gel and give them a decent chance? 🔍
 
Another Champions League night 🏟️😴. Nine games to choose from? Who needs that much football in one night, right? I mean, I love the Premier League as much as the next guy, but come on!

I'm keeping an eye on Newcastle's trip to Marseille tonight, though. Their manager seems a bit dodgy about his players' mental state 🤔. Are they just trying to spin it or is there something more going on? And what's up with Chelsea's team changes? Wesley Fofana and Moises Caicedo start, but who are the rest of the bench warmers off them?

The Champions League is a whole different beast from the Premier League, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing 🤷‍♂️. All these teams are so heavily invested in their European campaigns, it takes away from the fun we should be having watching football on a Saturday afternoon.
 
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