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Welcome to another evening of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for this evening, featuring three British teams in play. The Blues take on Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the halfway point of the league phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's games, each starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea team. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal starts for Barça; Rashford is on the bench.

The Blues (probable four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen 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. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their restorative 2-1 home Premier League win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure 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 Diego Maradona is on duty for that.