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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, with 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. 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 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.