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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League soccer. 9 games are set for tonight, featuring 3 British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the league stage, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Squad Updates

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

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

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