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Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the league phase, meaning the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (17:45)
• 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
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.