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Greetings to another night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, including 3 English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the standings is starting to take shape. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between fifth and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

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

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

Squad Updates

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

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

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

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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