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Greetings to a fresh night of thrilling European Cup football. 9 matches are planned for tonight, with 3 British teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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