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Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 games are planned for tonight, including 3 English clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, meaning the table is taking form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

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

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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