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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 games are planned for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s games, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• 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, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.