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Welcome to another evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway stage of the league phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. All six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, each 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
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Newcastle travel to Marseille
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Athletic Bilbao clash with Slavia Prague

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “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 version of Maradona is on duty for that.