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Welcome to another night of exciting Champions League football. Nine matches are planned for this evening, with three British clubs in play. The Blues take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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