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Welcome to another night of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, featuring 3 British teams in play. The Blues take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the group phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six British sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated 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.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.