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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are planned for tonight, including 3 British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, while Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway point of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, 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
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.