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Greetings to another evening of thrilling European Cup football. Nine matches are planned for this evening, featuring three English clubs in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is starting to take shape. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.