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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. Nine games are scheduled for tonight, with three English clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key match of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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