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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine matches are set for this evening, including three British clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.