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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s matches, each starting at 8pm 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
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side 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 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.