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Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 games are scheduled for this evening, with three English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group phase, so the rankings is beginning to form. All six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating fifth 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 (17:45)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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