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Greetings to another night of exciting European Cup football. 9 matches are set for this evening, with three British clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the marquee match of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway stage of the league stage, so the standings is beginning to form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.