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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting Champions League football. Nine fixtures are planned for tonight, including three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between 5th and 16th place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

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

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.