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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for this evening, including three English teams in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, so the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies 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, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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