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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 matches are set for tonight, with three English clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts separating 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

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

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• 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
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

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

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

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

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

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France 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 European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.