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Welcome to a fresh evening of exciting Champions League football. Nine matches are planned for tonight, featuring three British teams in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six English clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.