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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are planned for this evening, with 3 English clubs in action. Chelsea face Barça in the key fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group phase, meaning the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.