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Welcome to another night of thrilling European Cup football. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, with three British teams in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key match of the night, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• 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
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.