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Welcome to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League football. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, with three English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the key fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway point of the league phase, so the rankings is taking form. All six British clubs are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are this evening's games, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase 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 MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.