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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, with three English teams in play. The Blues face Barça in the marquee match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points separating 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

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, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.