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Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are planned for tonight, with three English teams in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway point of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.