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Welcome to another evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 matches are planned for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.