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Greetings to another evening of exciting European Cup soccer. Nine games are set for tonight, featuring 3 English teams in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the table is taking form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

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
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies 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 Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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