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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting European Cup football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including three British clubs in play. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’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
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging 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 Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a possible 12 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. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.