Newcastle’s Champions League Journey

Following Newcastle being knocked out of the Champions League in the Final Stage, how did their season play out?

(Image credit to @nufc on Instagram)

The journey would start as it would go on to end. Their first match of the Champions League was against Barcelona, the team which would ultimately bring an end to their journey, held at St James’ Park. After a quiet first half of the match with only 2 minutes of extra time, the score remained as it started. However, after 58 minutes, Marcus Rashford would go and score for Barcelona, followed by a second goal in the 67th minute, putting Newcastle in a 2-0 deficit. This would see to the end of the game, even as the home team put up a fight, they would only be able to come back with one goal in the 90th minute, a late goal by Gordon.

The next game would be a complete turnaround with an away 4-0 victory over Union St.Gilloise. A quick goal from Nick Woltemade in the 17th minute, put Newcastle in the lead. In the 43rd minute, a penalty was won for the travelling team and a strong goal was scored by Anthony Gordon. Soon after half-time, the penalty scorer would win another goal for Newcastle. In the 73rd minute, Harvey Barnes was subbed on. He would go on to score the final goal of the match, securing the win and bringing home a crucial 3 points.

One of the games which they drew in was an away game against the reigning champions, PSG. A penalty taken by Dembélé in the 4th minute was saved by Nick Pope making sure that an early lead would not be taken, however in the 8th minute Vitinha gave the home team hope with an early lead into the match, this was later followed by an equaliser by Newcastle's own Joe Willock with a first goal in almost a year. However this draw cost both teams, dropping both into the play-off places.

After the first 8 matches, Newcastle United was in 14th place, with 14 points and 4 crucial wins, putting the team into the qualification round of 16.

The next round would bring a trip to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, against Qarabag FK. An early goal by Gordon would soon be followed by another goal by Malick Thiaw. After the first 10 minutes of the game, the travelling team would have a 2-0 advantage. After a penalty scored by Gordon in the 32nd minute, he would go on to score another goal in the following minute, completing a hat-trick. In the 1st minute of added time, another penalty would be won by Newcastle, which would give a  5 goal advantage at halftime. In the second half of the match, it would quieten down slightly with a goal from both sides as the match would end 1-6 to the home team. These 2 teams would meet again the following week for leg 2, this time at St James Park. Another early lead was taken by Newcastle with two goals within the first ten minutes one by Sandro Tonali, the other by Joelinton. After half time, Qarabag’s Durán scored their first goal of the match, bringing some hope to the away team, however this would be matched by another goal for Newcastle by Botman. A few subs for both teams brought an epic goal for Qarabag bringing the aggregate score to 9-3. This ultimately knocked Qarabag FK out of the Champions League, allowing Newcastle United through the next matches.  

On the 10th of March, at St James Park, Newcastle faced Barcelona with a quiet first half with only 1 yellow card being awarded to the home team's Tonali. Only Burn and Joelinton were at risk of suspension but they will still have to be careful. In the 86th minute, Harvey Barnes volleyed Newcastle into the lead with an assist by Jacob Murphy however this would soon be equalized in the 6th minute of extra time by Barcelona's own Yamal, ending the first leg. The following week, the teams would meet again and they would decide who would get through the next round. In the 6th minute of the game, Barcelona took an early lead, setting the mood for the rest of the game. At half time, the score looked to be heading in the in the right direction for Newcastle with the home team leading 3-2. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, Barcelona scored another 4 goals, bringing the aggregate score to 8-3, not how Newcastle would have wanted these matches to go. This unfortunately knocked Newcastle out of the Champions League but it proved their capabilities. For the team not performing the best in the Premier League, their time in the Champions League was something that they definitely needed this season. 

Article written by Skyla Crook