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Welcome to another evening of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine games are set for this evening, featuring three British teams in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the table is taking form. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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