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Welcome to another evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 matches are planned for this evening, with three British clubs in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. All six English clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s matches, all kicking off at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

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

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.