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Welcome to another evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, featuring three English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, so the table is taking form. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City 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 sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.