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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are set for this evening, including 3 English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six English clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (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
• 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. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

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

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole 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 discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.