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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. 9 matches are planned for this evening, including 3 English teams in action. Chelsea face Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the table is taking form. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's matches, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie 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) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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