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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including three English clubs in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the marquee match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the league phase, so the standings is beginning to form. All six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, all starting at 8pm 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
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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