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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine matches are planned for this evening, including three English teams in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an rising superstar 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. Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.