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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are set for tonight, including 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key match of the evening, while The Magpies visit the French side and City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six English teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points between fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, each kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm)
• Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (17:45)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a available 12 and direct progression 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 MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.