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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with 3 English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee match of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s matches, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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