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Welcome to a fresh night of exciting Champions League football. Nine fixtures are planned for this evening, with 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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