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Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the standout match of the evening, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the group stage, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's games, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.