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Welcome to another night of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine games are set for tonight, featuring three English clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the league phase, meaning the standings is taking form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

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

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 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 the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.