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Greetings to another night of exciting European Cup football. 9 games are planned for this evening, featuring three British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the marquee match of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six British sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts separating fifth and sixteenth place, thus there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's fixtures, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their restorative two-one home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 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 MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.