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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League football. Nine fixtures are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 British teams in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona 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 sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 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 minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.