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Greetings to another night of exciting Champions League football. Nine games are set for this evening, including three British clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle visit the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the league stage, meaning the table is taking form. All six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

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

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic progression 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.