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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are set for this evening, with 3 English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key match of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is starting to take shape. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between fifth and 16th place, thus there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.