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Welcome to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine matches are planned for this evening, including three British clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the league stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Lineup Changes

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

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

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