For only the fourth time ever, Newcastle United are in the Champions League this season. But, the big difference this time is, group stages have been replaced by a league format.
Eight home games and eight away games, all against different sides sees the Magpies take on a whole load of familiar faces, as well as a new one, too.
Barcelona were first up at St James’ Park - a game which ended in a 2-1 loss - then Benfica, Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven also make the trip to Tyneside before January is out. Newcastle head to France again to take on Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, while also making the journey to one of the homes of their most famous away wins in their European history, Bayer Leverkusen. First up on their travels, however, was a trip to Brussels for Union Saint-Gilloise, a debutant to the competition, and a fresh Euro opponent for United. And with minimal fuss, the Magpies swept aside the Belgian champions. The game ended 4-0, with Anthony Gordon adding two to his growing Champions League tally.
And next up for a hammering was Jose Mourinho’s Benfica at SJP. Again it was Gordon and Barnes (2) who saw off the Portuguese giants and made it back to back wins in the competition for the first time in two decades.
In the third home game this week, Athletic Club were beaten 2-0 on home turf, as Dan Burn scored a header for the ages and Joelinton added one of his own in the second half. The result sees the Magpies end the fourth round of games - the half way mark - in 6th place.
So, when all said and done, eight teams go straight through to the last 16, the next 16 play off against each other, while the remaining 12 are knocked out of the competition. While Newcastle were one of the lowest ranked sides in the competition, are they likely to drop out? We asked Chat GPT for a prediction - and here’s what it said about NUFC, and the other English clubs in the competition, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
1. 35th: Benfica
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2. 34rd: Kairat Almaty
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3. 33rd: Athletic Club
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4. 32nd: Olympiacos
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