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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 British teams in play. The Blues meet Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. All six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's matches, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.