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Greetings to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, featuring 3 British teams in play. Chelsea take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

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

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 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 minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.