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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine games are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points between 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

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

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

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 manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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