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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting European Cup football. 9 fixtures are planned for this evening, with three English clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the standings is taking form. All six British teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only two points separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.