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Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine games are planned for tonight, with 3 British teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the key fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the table is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points between 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

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 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 and direct 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 version of Maradona is handling for that.