Newcastle United Look to Bounce Back in Champions League Clash at Union Saint-Gilloise
Newcastle United return to Champions League action on Wednesday night as they travel to Brussels to face competition newcomers Union Saint-Gilloise (5:45pm kick-off).
The Magpies began their 2025/26 European campaign with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Barcelona, and will be aiming to put things right with their first away win of the season — and their first Champions League away victory since beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 back in 2003.
This season introduces the new 36-team league phase format, where the top eight progress directly to the last 16. Teams finishing between 9th and 24th enter a knockout play-off, while those ranked 25th or lower are eliminated from Europe altogether. Newcastle, competing under this format for the first time, will face eight different opponents: four at home and four away. Their schedule includes Benfica, Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park, along with trips to Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and holders PSG.
Historically, Newcastle have never reached the knockout rounds of the Champions League. In 2002/03, they progressed beyond the initial stage but exited in the second group phase, while in 2023/24, they famously beat PSG 4-1 before fading to finish bottom of their group.
Currently sitting 26th of 36 teams after their loss to Barcelona, Eddie Howe’s side face a Union SG team riding high in 5th place following a shock 3-1 win over PSV in their debut Champions League outing.
Newcastle are one of a record six English clubs in this year’s competition, joining Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur — the latter entering via their Europa League triumph despite finishing 17th in the Premier League. The Magpies themselves qualified through the new European Performance Spot, awarded to the fifth-placed Premier League team.
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