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Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, with three British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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