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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling European Cup football. 9 games are planned for this evening, including 3 English clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s fixtures, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star 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 during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's 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 side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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