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Welcome to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, including three British clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible 12 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 Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.