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Welcome to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, with 3 English teams in action. The Blues take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

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

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible twelve 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 Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.