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Greetings to another night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 games are set for this evening, featuring three English clubs in play. The Blues take on Barça in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six English teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• 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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

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

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.