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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off 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
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.