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Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, including 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the league phase, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s matches, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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