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Greetings to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. Nine matches are set for this evening, including three English clubs in play. The Blues face Barça in the standout match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway stage of the group stage, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available 12 and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.