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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, including three British teams in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key match of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, so the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.