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Greetings to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League football. 9 matches are planned for this evening, featuring 3 English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the standout fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway stage of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s games, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle 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 a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.