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Greetings to another evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 games are planned for this evening, including 3 English teams in play. The Blues take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the league stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct progression 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. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.