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Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring three English teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar 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 early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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