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Greetings to a fresh night of exciting European Cup football. Nine matches are planned for this evening, including 3 British clubs in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the standout match of the night, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City welcome Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the halfway point of the group stage, meaning the standings is taking form. Each of the six English teams are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two points between fifth and 16th position, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

Here are this evening's matches, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Chelsea lineup. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenia).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, won by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Early Match Updates

Only a single goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute goal has earned Benfica under Mourinho a one-nil lead at Ajax.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the French south coming off their confidence-boosting two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on Saturday, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose team are 6th in the European table, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

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