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Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup soccer. Nine games are set for this evening, with three English teams in action. Chelsea face Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, whilst The Magpies visit the French side and Manchester City welcome Leverkusen.

League Table

It's the midway point of the league phase, meaning the table is taking form. Each of the six British teams are currently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points between 5th and sixteenth place, thus there's a hint of snakes and ladders about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

Match Schedule

Here are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM unless stated:

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

Lineup Changes

Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao join the Chelsea side. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (possible 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenia).

Previous Encounters

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, claimed by an emerging star from Côte d'Ivoire. Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester City have never met before. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.

Early Match Updates

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

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home English top-flight victory over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road victory since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is different to domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the European table, with 9 pts from a available 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I don’t know if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.