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Greetings to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory 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 the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.