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Welcome to another evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine games are planned for tonight, including three English teams in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a available 12 and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.