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Welcome to another evening of exciting European Cup football. 9 games are scheduled for tonight, with three English clubs in play. The Blues take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the table is starting to take shape. All six English teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points separating 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

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

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given 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 over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

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 Champions League standings, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct 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 minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.