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Greetings to another night of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are set for this evening, with three English teams in play. The Blues take on Barça in the marquee match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.