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Greetings to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are planned for tonight, including 3 English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the key match of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

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

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• 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. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know 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.