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Welcome to another night of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are set for this evening, including three English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the marquee match of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, so the table is beginning to form. Each of the six English sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase 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. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.