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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine matches are set for this evening, with three English teams in action. Chelsea face Barça in the key match of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's matches, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final 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 a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.