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Welcome to another evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, including three British clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the key match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league phase, so the standings is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (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
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica 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 Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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