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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. Nine fixtures are set for this evening, featuring three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the standings is taking form. Each of the six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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