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Welcome to a fresh night of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for tonight, featuring 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the table is beginning to form. Each of the six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two pts separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.