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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 matches are set for tonight, with three English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the key match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six English sides are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• 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, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure 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 handling for that.