Newcastle United are back in the Champions League.
For the second time in three seasons, Newcastle United will be playing Champions League football.
Eddie Howe’s side will be looking to build on their disappointing group stage exit in 2022/23 under the new competition format this coming season.
A change in the qualification rules and number of teams in the competition by UEFA ultimately handed Newcastle a spot in the 2025/26 Champions League. The Magpies qualified through the European Performance Spot which is an extra place awarded to the two countries with the highest UEFA coefficients over the course of a season.
English clubs were the best performing of any nation in European competitions last season with Chelsea winning the Conference League, Tottenham Hotspur beating Manchester United in the Europa League final and Arsenal reaching the Champions League semi-final.
Aston Villa also reached the quarter-final while Liverpool reached the last-16 and Manchester City exited in the knockout phase play-off round. That meant fifth place in the Premier League would qualify for the Champions League in addition to the now traditional top four.
Newcastle secured fifth place on the final day of the season despite losing to Everton as Aston Villa also lost to Manchester United. For the first time, England will have six teams in the Champions League with Spurs qualifying through winning the Europa League.
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UEFA tease Newcastle United’s Champions League return
After a season-long hiatus, UEFA’s official Champions League social media channels broke their Newcastle United silence ahead of the club’s return to the competition.
The account simply posted an image of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak arriving at St James’ Park wearing sunglasses. Hardly groundbreaking stuff, but a simple gesture that acknowledges Newcastle’s return to Europe’s elite club competition.
It comes after Newcastle confirmed their place in the competition and will now look ahead to the group phase draw on August 28. Unlike The Magpies’ last venture in the competition which saw them drawn into a group of death with AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, they will be drawn in a significantly different format this time around.
Newcastle’s low UEFA coefficient score won’t be as punishing in the upcoming Champions League draw as they will face two teams from each coefficient pot regardless. Four games against teams from each pot will take place at St James’ Park and the other four will take place away from home.
The eight best-performing teams from those eight games qualify for the last-16 while those ranked ninth through to 24 enter a knockout play-off round.
Teams ranked 25th to 36th exit the competition.
But unlike previous tournament formats, there is no filtering through the competitions for under-performing sides. Teams that do not qualify for the next stage of the Champions League are knocked out and do not enter the knockout rounds of the Europa League as they would have done under the previous format.
Newcastle United Champions League key dates
Group phase draw: August 28
Matchday 1: September 16/17/18
Matchday 2 September 30/October 1
Matchday 3: October 21/22
Matchday 4: November 4/5
Matchday 5: November 25/26
Matchday 6: December 9/10
Matchday 7: January 20/21
Matchday 8: January 28
Should Newcastle finish between ninth and 24th in the league phase table, two-legged knockout play-offs will take place on February 17/18 and 24/25 in 2026. If Newcastle finish in the top eight or win their knockout play-off tie, the last-16 ties will take place on March 10/11 and 17/18.
Quarter-final ties take place on April 7/8 and 14/15 and the semi-finals are scheduled for April 28/29 and May 5/6.
The Champions League final will take place on May 30 at Puskás Aréna in Budapest, the same city where Newcastle won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, their last major European honour, in 1969.
Newcastle United confirm Champions League prices
£60 for Champions League matches marks a £5 increase on Newcastle’s previous Champions League cup scheme prices from the 2023/24 season. But it is still less than Aston Villa’s Champions League prices for last season which saw the cheapest adult ticket at Villa Park priced at £70.
The ticket announcement comes after Newcastle confirmed that season ticket prices would increase by 5% for the 2025/26 season.
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