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Greetings to another night of thrilling Champions League football. Nine fixtures are set for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the standings is taking form. All six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory over City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to 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 don’t know if you can compare them.”

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