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Welcome to another evening of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 games are planned for tonight, featuring 3 British teams in play. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s fixtures, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.