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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine matches are planned for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the key fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

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

Initial Game Reports

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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