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Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League football. 9 fixtures are set for tonight, with 3 English teams in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the marquee fixture of the evening, while The Magpies visit Marseille and Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, so the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English clubs are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and 16th place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Squad Updates

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao join the Blues side. Dropped are Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal starts for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

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

Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final 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

Only a single goal during the opening period of the two early games. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 advantage at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south fresh from their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight win against Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a possible 12 and direct 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.