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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 matches are scheduled for this evening, including three English teams in action. Chelsea meet Barça in the marquee fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway stage of the group stage, meaning the standings is beginning to form. All six British clubs are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between 5th and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the entire situation. Everything is to play for.

Match Schedule

These are this evening's games, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

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

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

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, claimed by an rising star 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 two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

A dedicated live feed is available for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.