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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting European Cup soccer. Nine matches are set for this evening, featuring 3 British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the standout fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s fixtures, each 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
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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