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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

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

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

Team News

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

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an emerging star 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. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against Manchester 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 the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase 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 version of Maradona is on duty for that.