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Welcome to another night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 matches are planned for tonight, including three English teams in action. The Blues face Barça in the key match of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager 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 Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.