Dan Burn has opened up about Newcastle United’s key priority for the 2025-26 campaign.
Dan Burn has ranked securing a return to the Champions League as Newcastle United’s top priority this season.
A patchy start to the campaign has resulted in the Magpies struggling to find rhythm due to a notable summer hangover. Newcastle sit 12th despite a late win over Fulham on Saturday - with bitter rivals Sunderland storming up the table after beating Chelsea.
As for the European adventure, Eddie Howe’s men have fared better. Wins over Union-Saint Gilloise and Benfica have put qualification to the knockout stages firmly in Newcastle’s hands.
Dan Burn on Champions League target
But while Champions League fixtures are all fun and well, ensuring they are in the competition next season is crucial to Newcastle’s long-term plan. A trophy in the bag last year has taken the pressure off, with a top-five finish now viewed as more important now the 70-year curse is broken.
“This season, our target is to get Champions League football again,” Burn told Football Focus. “There’s only once before in our history where we’ve achieved back-to-back Champions League seasons. It’s something that is a target for us.
“I know we haven’t started well but, if we want to hit that target, we need to kick on. I feel like you can slip away from the top and it’s hard to get back up there.”
And on the Champions League…
Burn also outlined reaching the knockout rounds as a realistic target for the club. He added: “In the Champions League, we want to get to the knockout stages. I don’t think we’ve done that before - so that’s the aim.”
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Eddie Howe headscratcher
After the Benfica game, Howe opened up about the contrasting form between the Premier League and Champions League. He told reporters: “Yeah, that's a head-scratcher for me as well because we know their qualities, we know they’re goal scorers, we know how good of players they are and that goes through for another few players in our squad as well.
“Everyone has pointed to the fact that we haven't been scoring enough in the Premier League. But when you see us play like we did tonight and how we attacked and the amount of chances we created, that's a difficult one for us to work out.”
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