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Welcome to another night of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine matches are planned for this evening, featuring 3 British teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee match of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct progression 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 minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.