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Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are planned for this evening, with three English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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