🔗 Share this article Champions League Action This Evening: Chelsea v Barcelona & More Welcome to another evening of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, featuring 3 English teams in action. Chelsea face Barça in the standout fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and City welcome Leverkusen. Group Rankings It's the halfway stage of the league phase, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six British sides are presently in the top 12, but there are only 2 points between 5th and sixteenth position, thus there's a hint of volatility about the entire situation. All remains open. Match Schedule Here are this evening's games, all starting at 8pm unless stated: Ajax 0-1 Benfica (5.45pm) Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm) Bodo/Glimt v Juventus Chelsea v Barcelona Villarreal meet Dortmund Leverkusen visit Man City Newcastle travel to Marseille Qarabag play Napoli Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao Lineup Changes Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap. Yamal starts for Barcelona; Rashford is among the substitutes. Chelsea (probable four-three-three) Sanchez; Reece James, Fofana, Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho. Substitutes: Kjell Scherpen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Marc Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte. Barça (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Lewandowski. Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji. Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenian). Past Meetings The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semifinal of 2004, won by an emerging superstar from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met before. Barcelona and Chelsea have a peedie bit of history. Early Match Updates Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side. Marseille v Newcastle Preview Even though The Magpies arrived in the south of France coming off their restorative two-one home English top-flight win over Manchester City on the weekend, and having beaten Union Saint-Gilloise, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the Champions League, their sole on the road win since the start of April came in the Belgian capital at Union Saint-Gilloise. It's not that Howe was eager to discuss the mental side of this travel sickness. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are 6th in the Champions League standings, with nine points from a available 12 and direct 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 minute-by-minute version of Maradona is on duty for that.