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Greetings to another night of exciting European Cup soccer. Nine games are planned for this evening, with 3 British teams in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, so the standings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, 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 travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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