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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, including three English teams in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the standings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

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

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic 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 MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.