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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting European Cup football. Nine games are set for this evening, including three English teams in play. Chelsea face Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway stage of the league stage, so the table is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a available twelve and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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