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Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are set for this evening, with three English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group phase, so the table is starting to take shape. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only two pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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