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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, with three British teams in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the key match of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about 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 European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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