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Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are planned for this evening, including three English clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City 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 early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic 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 Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.