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Welcome to another night of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, featuring 3 British clubs in play. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the evening, while The Magpies travel to the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

It's the midway stage of the league phase, meaning the standings is starting to take shape. All six English teams are presently in the top 12, however there are only two points between 5th and 16th place, so there's a sense of volatility about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Lamine Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes.

The Blues (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Hato, Leo George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.

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

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have some past encounters.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Even though The Magpies arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League win against City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away victory since early April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available twelve and automatic qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

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