**Newcastle United start their latest Champions League adventure on Thursday when Barcelona come to St James' Park.**
Once again, Newcastle have been given statistically the most difficult draw in the early stages of the competition, and as such, many pundits haven't given the Geordies much chance of progression beyond the league phase.
Newcastle have to take on Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Marseille, Athletic Bilbao, and PSV, as well as Union Saint-Gilloise.
It's a tasty set of fixtures for sure, but Sir David Beckham believes Newcastle have what it takes to cause a shock.
> [](https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo/status/1967689240956838196)
David Beckham doesn't believe Newcastle will be an easy Champions League target
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Speaking to CBS, Beckham acknowledges that they have a tough ride, but also says they have enough about them to cause a surprise.
> “I think that people are already writing Newcastle off.
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> “I think Newcastle, they’re a good team and I think they’ve got some good players and they’re very together as a team and as fans and as a club. I think they could surprise a few people.”
Newcastle have a habit of rising to the occasion
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Newcastle have a habit of turning it on when it's a big game, and pretty much every one of our Champions League games is going to be huge, so we're with Beckham on this one.
We don't want to go out on a limb before a ball has been kicked and say that we'll make it out of the league phase, but we doubt we'll be complete write-offs either.
Even a point against Barcelona on Thursday would show that we aren't pushovers, but a win on our home turf would certainly shock a lot of people.