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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 games are set for tonight, featuring three English clubs in action. Chelsea face Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.