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Greetings to another evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. 9 games are planned for tonight, featuring three British teams in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the group stage, meaning the table is starting to take shape. All six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

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

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
• 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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that 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 manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a possible twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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