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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including 3 English teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the league stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. All six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase 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. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.