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Welcome to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with 3 British teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed 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.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible 12 and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.