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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine games are planned for tonight, including three British teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and 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 sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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