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Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are set for tonight, including three British teams in action. The Blues take on Barcelona in the standout match of the night, whilst Newcastle travel to Marseille and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM 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

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though Newcastle traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Maradona is handling for that.