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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. Nine games are planned for this evening, including 3 British teams in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group stage, so the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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