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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League football. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, with 3 British clubs in action. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the French south coming off their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight win over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.