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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. Nine games are planned for this evening, with 3 British teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between 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 never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct qualification 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. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.