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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are planned for tonight, including three English teams in action. The Blues face Barça in the marquee match of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s fixtures, all 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)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica 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 overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “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 version of Maradona is on duty for that.