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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 matches are set for this evening, including three British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. 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 early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure 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.