🔗 Share this article

Welcome to another evening of electrifying Champions League soccer. 9 matches are planned for tonight, including 3 English teams in play. The Blues face Barcelona in the standout fixture of the night, while The Magpies visit Marseille and City welcome Bayer Leverkusen.

Group Rankings

We're at the midway stage of the group stage, so the rankings is taking form. Each of the six English teams are currently in the top 12, however there are only 2 points separating fifth and 16th position, thus there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.

Tonight’s Fixtures

Here are this evening's fixtures, each kicking off at 8pm except where noted:

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

Lineup Changes

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues side. Out go Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Pedro and Delap.

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

Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Garnacho.

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

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

Substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Noah Darvich, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Official Vincic (Slovenian).

Past Meetings

The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Uefa Cup semifinal of 2004, claimed by an rising star 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 in the first half of the early fixtures. Samuel 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 restorative two-one home English top-flight victory over City on the weekend, and having beaten Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

Not that Eddie Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this away form issue. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose team are sixth in the Champions League standings, with nine pts from a possible 12 and automatic progression to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”

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