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Greetings to another night of electrifying Champions League football. 9 matches are set for this evening, with 3 English clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the key match of the evening, while Newcastle visit the French side and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway point of the group stage, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points between 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

This Evening's Games

These are this evening's matches, all kicking off at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

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