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Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, featuring 3 British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

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

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• 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. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and automatic qualification 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 equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.