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Welcome to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine games are scheduled for tonight, including three English clubs in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

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

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2003-04, won by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight victory over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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