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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, featuring three British teams in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the marquee match of the night, while Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the standings is taking form. All six English teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th position, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Team News

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

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

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know 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.