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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, with 3 British teams in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is taking form. All six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

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

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

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification 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 Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.