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Welcome to another night of exciting Champions League football. Nine fixtures are set for this evening, with three British teams in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the group phase, so the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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