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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 games are planned for tonight, featuring three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 points separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Team News

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

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 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 Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.