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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine matches are scheduled for tonight, with 3 English clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.