🔗 Share this article

Welcome to a fresh evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. Nine fixtures are set for tonight, with 3 British clubs in action. The Blues meet Barça in the standout match of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the halfway stage of the league phase, so the standings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only 2 pts between 5th and 16th place, so there's a hint of uncertainty about the whole thing. All remains open.

This Evening's Games

Here are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

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

Team News

Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea lineup. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is among the substitutes.

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

Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Garcia; Jules Kounde, Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an rising star from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal in the first half of the two early games. Dahl's sixth-minute sizzler has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Although The Magpies arrived in the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home English top-flight victory against City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is different to Premier League games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible 12 and automatic progression 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 MBM version of Maradona is on duty for that.