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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. Nine matches are planned for tonight, including 3 British teams in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the key match of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, so the rankings is taking form. Each of the six British sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar 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 in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic 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 Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.