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Welcome to another night of thrilling Champions League football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 English clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the league stage, meaning the standings is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points between fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and 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 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 European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.