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Greetings to another evening of exciting European Cup football. Nine games are planned for this evening, with three English clubs in action. The Blues take on Barça in the key match of the night, whilst The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway point of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. All six British clubs are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts separating fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

These are this evening's games, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle arrived in the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with nine pts from a available twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I don’t know if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the MBM version of Maradona is handling for that.