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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine matches are scheduled for this evening, featuring three English clubs in play. The Blues meet Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the league stage, so the table is starting to take shape. Each of the six English teams are currently in the top 12, but there are only two points between fifth and 16th place, thus there's a sense of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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