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Greetings to another evening of exciting European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, including three English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to 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 victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.