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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, including three English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six British teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• 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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct qualification 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 Maradona is handling for that.