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Greetings to another night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, including three English teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect 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 9 pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.