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Greetings to another evening of exciting Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for this evening, with three British clubs in play. The Blues meet Barça in the key fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the standings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 points between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

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

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

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

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

Barça (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

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

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has given Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though 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 defeated Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side 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 9 points from a available 12 and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.