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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, with three British teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the league phase, so the table is taking form. Each of the six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

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

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.