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Greetings to another evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, including three English clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway stage of the group stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts separating 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's matches, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.