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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League football. Nine games are scheduled for tonight, including 3 British teams in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway point of the group stage, so the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s fixtures, all starting 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
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.