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Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are set for tonight, featuring 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 points separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory 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 travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and automatic 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 equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.