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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, including three English teams in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway point of the league phase, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English teams are presently in the top 12, but there are only two pts separating 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

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

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.