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Greetings to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League soccer. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group stage, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's matches, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

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

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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