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Welcome to a fresh night of thrilling Champions League football. Nine games are set for tonight, featuring 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group stage, so the table is beginning to form. All six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

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

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine 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.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.