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Greetings to a fresh night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for tonight, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout fixture of the night, while Newcastle visit Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only two pts between 5th and sixteenth place, so there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's games, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

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

Initial Game Reports

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.