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Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine games are planned for tonight, featuring 3 English teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the key match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the standings is taking form. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between 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.