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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 games are set for tonight, with 3 British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• 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, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.