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Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 matches are planned for this evening, featuring 3 British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the group stage, so the table is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts between 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole 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 travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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