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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 matches are planned for tonight, featuring three British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, so the standings is taking form. All six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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