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Welcome to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 games are set for this evening, with 3 British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee match of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the league phase, meaning the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only two points between 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.