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Welcome to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the key match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group stage, so the table is beginning to form. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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