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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting Champions League football. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, including 3 English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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