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Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key match of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway point of the league phase, so the table is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase 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 Maradona is on duty for that.