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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 matches are planned for this evening, with 3 British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six British sides are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2003-04, won by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect 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 nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.