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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling Champions League soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key match of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British clubs are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's games, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

• Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Juventus face Bodo/Glimt
• Chelsea v Barcelona
• Villarreal meet Dortmund
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

Barcelona (possible four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

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

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica 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.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the European table, with nine points from a possible twelve and direct 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. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.