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Greetings to a fresh evening of thrilling European Cup football. 9 games are set for this evening, including three English clubs in action. Chelsea take on Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, whilst Newcastle travel to the French side and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

We're at the midway stage of the group phase, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. All six English sides are currently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of uncertainty about the entire situation. It’s all up for grabs.

This Evening's Games

These are tonight’s matches, all starting at 8pm unless stated:

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

Squad Updates

Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues team. Out go Tosin Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap.

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

The Blues (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.

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

Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Uefa Cup semi-final of 2004, won by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. 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 in the first half of the early fixtures. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has given Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 1-0 lead away to the Dutch side.

Marseille v Newcastle Preview

Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over City on the weekend, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union SG.

It's not that Howe was eager to discuss 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 European table, with nine points from a available twelve and direct qualification to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the MBM equivalent of Diego Maradona is handling for that.