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Welcome to another evening of exciting European Cup football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, featuring three English teams in play. Chelsea meet Barça in the key fixture of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the group phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. All six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating 5th and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory against City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a possible twelve and automatic progression to the last 16 nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is handling for that.