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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, including three English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barça in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway stage of the league stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. All six English clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away 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 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 points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.