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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 English teams in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee match of the night, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here 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 (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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