Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Newcastle United FC and SL Benfica at St James' Park on October 21, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United arrives at the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Newcastle United FC and SL Benfica at St James' Park on October 21, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Sandro Tonali is among three Newcastle United players to drop out of the starting XI for the Champions League tie against Benfica.
The Magpies lost 2-1 away to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday but return to European action hoping to build on the 4-0 win against Union Saint-Gilloise last time out.
Eddie Howe’s side have lost their last three home games in the competition against Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Barcelona, with their last win coming against Paris Saint-Germain, who they beat 4-1.
Benfica are unbeaten in Portugal this season but have lost both of their Champions League group phase matches. Jose Mourinho succeeded Bruno Lage after their shock 3-2 defeat to Qarabag FK before Mourinho lost 1-0 at former club Chelsea last time out.
Newcastle United starting XI v Benfica confirmed
For a third consecutive game, Howe named the same starting XI at Brighton but has opted to make three changes this evening.
Joelinton and Anthony Elanga were hooked at half-time at the Amex Stadium in place of Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey. The latter two are rewarded with a spot in the starting line-up.
Sandro Tonali drops to Newcastle United bench
The other change sees Jacob Ramsey come in for Sandro Tonali, who has been suffering with an illness in recent days. The Italian didn’t part in training at the club’s Benton training ground on Monday.
“Bit of illness with Sandro so he will be touch and go for the game,” Howe admitted. “We'll give him every opportunity but he wasn't there at training today and he's such an important player so we'll use all the hours we have.”
When asked about the prospect of Miley and Ramsey starting, Howe replied: “Yeah, they have Champions League experience, but they're also very, very good players.
“I think we've got a really strong midfield this year, so if one player is missing, it's an opportunity for a very good player to come in and grab theirs. I thought both players did well when they came in on Saturday.”
Eddie Howe previews Newcastle United v Benfica
Previewing the game at his pre-match press conference, Howe said: "We love these games. The Barcelona game here was so close for us and it could have been a very different outcome.
"We've been in that position a lot this season where the results could have gone either way. We've been very competitive, we were competitive that night and this has a similar type of feel under the lights here. The atmosphere will be electric, I have no doubt. I hope our performance mirrors that crowd energy that we're going to get."
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"He's [Jose Mourinho] someone that I hugely admire having come up against him before in the Premier League. As a younger coach, I really admired the teams that he built, at Chelsea in particular.
"A visionary and someone who broke the mould in how you manage in different ways to do things and then following his success through different clubs in different leagues. It's incredible what he has achieved in his career so I think it's always a good opportunity for any club to go up against one of his teams.
"[I'm] looking forward to the challenge immensely and it's going to be a great game."
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