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Welcome to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are scheduled for tonight, including 3 British clubs in action. The Blues face Barça in the marquee match of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the league stage, so the table is beginning to form. All six English clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 pts between fifth and 16th place, so there's a whiff of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s games, all kicking off at 8:00 PM 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
• Leverkusen visit Man City
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Napoli v Qarabag
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

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

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

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

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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