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Greetings to another night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including three British teams in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar 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 early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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