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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, including three British teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the group phase, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.