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Welcome to another night of thrilling European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, with three British clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key match of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.