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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, including three English clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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