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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the league stage, so the table is taking form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.