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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, including 3 British clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM 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
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.