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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are set for this evening, featuring three British teams in play. The Blues face Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the league stage, so the table is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away 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 distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know 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 Diego Maradona is on duty for that.