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Welcome to another evening of exciting Champions League football. Nine games are planned for tonight, including three British clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the league stage, meaning the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “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 equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.