🔗 Share this article

Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. Nine games are planned for tonight, featuring three British clubs in play. The Blues face Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the halfway stage of the group phase, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six British sides are presently in the top 12, however there are only 2 pts between fifth and sixteenth place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. All remains open.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's matches, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, 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, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although The Magpies traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only on the road victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

Not that Eddie 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 possible twelve and automatic qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.