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Welcome to another evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 games are set for tonight, including three English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league phase, so the standings is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's matches, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.