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Welcome to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, with three English teams in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. All six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• 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
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only 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 European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.