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Greetings to another night of thrilling European Cup football. Nine games are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 British teams in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league stage, so the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

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

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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