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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for tonight, with three British clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the league phase, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. All six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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