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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including three English teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.