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Newcastle United will play in the UEFA Champions League this season. Their fourth-placed Premier League finish confirmed it last time out – what a turnaround from the previous campaign.
Of course, this won’t be the first time that the Magpies competed at the peak of European football. They’ve been there before and faced some of the game’s giants.
With their last appearance in Europe’s elite club competition now over 20 years ago, you would be forgiven for struggling to recall just how the Magpies got on.
Football FanCast has taken a look back at how Newcastle did in previous years ahead of their grand return.
1997/98 – Group stage
The mid-90s saw Newcastle make waves in English football, including breaking the world transfer record to sign Alan Shearer in 1996.
While they fell agonisingly short of winning the Premier League, the Mapgies took advantage of changes in UEFA rules that allowed for non-champions to compete in their main competition.
They did need to win a qualifier, but a 4-3 aggregate win over Dinamo Zagreb (then known as Croatia Zagreb) put them into group stages. Waiting for them? Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona.
The group stage was also different in those days – there were only six in total, with the winners going straight through to the quarter-finals. The two best-placed runners-up would take the remaining berths in the final eight, meaning Newcastle were up against it to progress.
Things started off brilliantly with a 3-2 win against Barcelona that continues to live long in the memory. Faustino Asprilla earned and scored a penalty before planting a bullet header in the Barca net to leave the Toon faithful in dreamland.
He completed his hat-trick with another header moments into the second half, before Louis van Gaal’s side staged their comeback.
But consolation goals from Luis Enrique and Luis Figo were not enough to prevent the Magpies from grabbing the perfect start to their group campaign.
A 2-2 draw in Kyiv followed, with Newcastle 2-0 down until a late fightback earned a point.
PSV, however, would then pick up back-to-back wins over Newcastle – without the Magpies scoring a goal. In fact, they’d then lost 1-0 to Barca before finally finding more points in the final game against Kyiv thanks to a 2-0 home win.
Newcastle weren’t able to overcome the talent in that group, finishing third behind PSV and… Kyiv. Yes, Barcelona finished bottom of the group, having lost 3-0 and 4-0 to the Ukrainian side.
That maybe makes a bit more sense when you learn a young Andriy Shevchenko scored five goals in six games for Kyiv that season, including a hat-trick at Camp Nou.
All in all, Newcastle were incredibly unfortunate. They came up against three great sides, but certainly had moments to savour.
Round |
Match |
Goalscorers |
---|---|---|
Second qualifying round, 1st leg |
Newcastle 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb |
Beresford (2); Cvitanovic |
Second qualifying round, 2nd leg |
Dinamo Zagreb 2-2 Newcastle (aet) |
Simic, Cvitanovic; Asprilla, Ketsbaia |
Group C |
Newcastle 3-2 Barcelona |
Asprilla (3); Luis Enrique, Figo |
Group C |
Dynamo Kyiv 2-2 Newcastle |
Rebrov, Shevchenko; Beresford, Holovko (og) |
Group C |
PSV 1-0 Newcastle |
Jonk |
Group C |
Newcastle 0-2 PSV |
Nilis, De Bilde |
Group C |
Barcelona 1-0 Newcastle |
Giovanni |
Group C |
Newcastle 2-0 Dynamo Kyiv |
Barnes, Pearce |
Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
6 |
+7 |
11 |
2 |
PSV |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
8 |
+1 |
9 |
3 |
Newcastle |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
-1 |
7 |
4 |
Barcelona |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
-7 |
5 |
2002/03 – Second group phase
Newcastle had to wait a while before getting another crack at the Champions League. They qualified in 2002/03, though – but once again needed to play a qualifying round. Bosnian outfit Zeljeznicar fell to them 5-0 on aggregate, putting the Magpies back in the group stage.
And oh, was it one to remember. Newcastle found Juventus, Dynamo Kyiv and Feyenoord waiting for them and started as miserably as possible. They lost all three of their opening games to sit on zero points at the halfway mark.
But then something magic happened. Newcastle beat Juventus, beat Kyiv, and set up a historic tie with Feyenoord on the final matchday.
If they could claim victory in the Netherlands – and Juve beat Kyiv – Newcastle could qualify, with two slots available in the next phase of the competition.
They did just that, thanks to Craig Bellamy scoring a 91st-minute winner and Juve winning 2-1. That was history – Newcastle were the first side to ever lose their first three games and still get out of the group.
Round |
Match |
Goalscorers |
---|---|---|
Third qualifying round, 1st leg |
Zeljeznicar 0-1 Newcastle |
Dyer |
Third qualifying round, 2nd leg |
Newcastle 4-0 Zeljeznicar |
Dyer, Lua Lua, Viana, Shearer |
First group phase, Group E |
Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 Newcastle |
Shatskikh, Khatskevich |
First group phase, Group E |
Newcastle 0-1 Feyenoord |
Pardo |
First group phase, Group E |
Juventus 2-0 Newcastle |
Del Piero (2) |
First group phase, Group E |
Newcastle 1-0 Juventus |
Griffin |
First group phase, Group E |
Newcastle 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv |
Speed, Shearer; Shatskikh |
First group phase, Group E |
Feyenoord 2-3 Newcastle |
Bombarda, Lurling; Bellamy (2), Viana |
Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Juventus |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
3 |
+9 |
13 |
2 |
Newcastle |
6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
8 |
-2 |
9 |
3 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
-3 |
7 |
4 |
Feyenoord |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
-4 |
5 |
Their reward, of course, was yet another group phase. If you’re not familiar, there used to be two group stages before the switch to the format we see today. Barcelona, Inter and Bayer Leverkusen waited.
Leverkusen – the previous year’s finalists – proved no match for the Magpies, losing 3-1 twice in succession.
Newcastle couldn’t quite compete with Barcelona and Inter, however. The Catalonians beat them twice, while Inter smashed them 4-1 at St James’ Park. A 2-2 draw at San Siro provided an extra point, but Newcastle’s seven saw them out as the third-placed team.
Round |
Match |
Goalscorers |
---|---|---|
Second group phase, Group A |
Newcastle 1-4 Inter |
Solano; Morfeo, Almeyda, Crespo, Recoba |
Second group phase, Group A |
Barcelona 3-1 Newcastle |
Garcia, Kluivert, Motta; Ameobi |
Second group phase, Group A |
Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 Newcastle |
Franca; Ameobi (2), Lua Lua |
Second group phase, Group A |
Newcastle 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen |
Shearer (3); Babic |
Second group phase, Group A |
Inter 2-2 Newcastle |
Vieri, Cordoba; Shearer (2) |
Second group phase, Group A |
Newcastle 0-2 Barcelona |
Kluivert, Motta |
Pos |
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Barcelona |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
+10 |
16 |
2 |
Inter |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
8 |
+3 |
11 |
3 |
Newcastle |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
13 |
-3 |
7 |
4 |
Bayer Leverkusen |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
15 |
-10 |
0 |
2003/04 – Third qualifying round
Unfortunately, this one ends on something of a sour note. Newcastle were back in the competition the following season and, once again, needed to win a qualifying match.
But they slipped up. Newcastle were able to pick up a 1-0 win away from home, and with the away goals rule in effect, seemed well-placed to snatch a group-stage berth. Unfortunately, the Serbians returned the favour, and then some – with Partizan winning on penalties.
Shearer was among four Newcastle players to miss in the shootout, which had remarkably gone to sudden death despite the home side missing their first three penalties.
Aaron Hughes missed the crucial penalty before Milivoje Cirkovic stepped up to break Toon hearts.
That dropped the Magpies down to the UEFA Cup, where they made it to the semi-finals. Beaten by eventual losing finalists Marseille, a double from a certain Didier Drogba ended the Toon’s European adventure that year.
That season marks the last time they competed under the Champions League banner. Of course, that will change come September.
Round |
Match |
Goalscorers |
---|---|---|
Third qualifying round, 1st leg |
Partizan 0-1 Newcastle |
Solano |
Third qualifying round, 2nd leg |
Newcastle 0-1 Partizan (p) |
Iliev |
Who are Newcastle United’s top scorers in the Champions League?
Alan Shearer unsurprisingly leads the way in terms of goals at this level for Newcastle with seven, having spearheaded their incredible journey through the group stages back in 2002/03.
Faustino Asprilla has four to his name, while John Beresford and Shola Ameobi have three apiece, including one at Camp Nou for the latter.
Here is how the full list looks including qualifiers – expect this to change considerably before Christmas (and maybe beyond):
Player |
Goals |
---|---|
Alan Shearer |
7 |
Faustino Asprilla |
4 |
John Beresford |
3 |
Shola Ameobi |
3 |
Kieron Dyer |
2 |
Lomana Lua Lua |
2 |
Hugo Viana |
2 |
Craig Bellamy |
2 |
Nolberto Solano |
2 |
Temuri Ketsbaia |
1 |
John Barnes |
1 |
Stuart Pearce |
1 |
Andy Griffin |
1 |
Gary Speed |
1 |
When is the Champions League group stage draw?
Newcastle will find out their latest Champions League opponents on Thursday 31st August, when the draw is made in Monaco. They will be in line to face one of last season’s domestic champions (excluding Manchester City) or Europa League winners Sevilla.
Their pot placing will be determined following the conclusion of the play-off round, with the likes of Rangers seeking a group stage berth of their own.
While Newcastle’s history in this competition is limited, they are never far away from the drama, so we can certainly expect fireworks when the Champions League returns to Tyneside in the near future.