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Greetings to another night of thrilling European Cup soccer. Nine fixtures are planned for this evening, featuring three English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the night, while Newcastle visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the group phase, so the table is taking form. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only two points between fifth and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are tonight’s games, all starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

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

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

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

Not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.