🔗 Share this article Champions League Matches Tonight: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More Greetings to a fresh evening of electrifying European Cup football. 9 fixtures are scheduled for this evening, with three English teams in play. The Blues take on Barcelona in the key fixture of the evening, while Newcastle travel to the French side and Manchester City host Leverkusen. Group Rankings It's the halfway point of the league stage, meaning the rankings is beginning to form. Each of the six British teams are presently in the upper twelve, however there are only two points separating 5th and 16th place, so there's a whiff of volatility about the whole thing. All remains open. Match Schedule These are this evening's games, all kicking off at 8pm except where noted: Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm) Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (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 Team News Wesley Fofana, Caicedo, Garnacho, Malo Gusto and Estevao are included in the Chelsea side. Excluded are Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Pedro and Liam Delap. Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Rashford is among the substitutes. Chelsea (probable 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cucurella; Malo Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho. Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte. Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Ferran Torres; Robert Lewandowski. Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji. Official Slavko Vincic (Slovenian). Previous Encounters The sole past encounter involving Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising superstar from Ivory Coast. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have some past encounters. Early Match Updates Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute strike has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil advantage away to Ajax. Marseille v Newcastle Preview Even though The Magpies traveled to the French south coming off their confidence-boosting 2-1 home Premier League victory over Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole away win since the start of April came in Brussels at Union SG. It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is distinct from domestic games,” said the manager, whose side are 6th in the European table, with 9 pts from a available twelve and direct progression to the knockout phase almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.” We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Maradona is on duty for that.