Brazilian former football player Kaka holds up the slip of Newcastle United during the draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2025-2026 UEFA Champions League football tournament, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 28, 2025. (Photo by Frederic DIDES / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC DIDES/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Brazilian former football player Kaka holds up the slip of Newcastle United during the draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2025-2026 UEFA Champions League football tournament, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 28, 2025. (Photo by Frederic DIDES / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC DIDES/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Newcastle United are set to find out their Champions League last-16 opponents this week with the draw taking place at UEFA headquarters.
Newcastle United are expected to progress to the last-16 of the Champions League this week as they take a 6-1 lead into their knockout round play-off second leg against Qarabag.
No side in Champions League history has ever overturned a five-goal deficit in the second leg as the Azerbaijan champions head to St James’ Park on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off).
The Magpies secured their biggest ever Champions League win in Baku last week, thanks to four goals from Anthony Gordon, a Malick Thiaw header and second half strike from Jacob Murphy.
While they still have to see out the tie and avoid disaster, Newcastle can reasonably expect to find out their last-16 opponents later this week when the Champions League knockout stage draw is made in full later this week.
When will the Champions League knockout round draw take place?
The Champions League knockout stage draw will be made in full at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday, Feberuary 27 from 11am GMT.
The draw will produce a final bracket which will show each club’s last-16 opponents as well as the potential path to the final.
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Who could Newcastle United face in the Champions League knockout stages?
While Newcastle have reached the last-16 of the Champions League as part of a second group stage, they have never done so in a knockout match.
Should they progress against Qarabag, Friday’s draw will see Newcastle discover whether they will be facing Chelsea or Barcelona in the last-16 of the competition.
The Magpies will play the first leg on Match 10 or 11 at St James’ Park before travelling to Stamford Bridge or Camp Nou on March 17 or 18.
The winners of the last-16 tie will then face either Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Club Brugge or Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final. The winners of the quarter-final will then face one of Inter Milan, Bodo/Glimt, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos, Manchester City, Sporting, Bayern Munich or Arsenal in the semi-final.
Newcastle can’t face league phase opponents and holders Paris Saint-Germain or record 15-time winners Real Madrid until the final.
But all of that will become clear on Friday with a clear bracket and each team’s potential route to the final mapped out.
Champions League fixture dates
Once all the ties are drawn on 27 February, here’s when the games take place:
1st legs: 10 & 11 March 2026
2nd legs: 17 & 18 March 2026
Quarter-final
1st legs: 7 & 8 April 2026
2nd legs: 14 & 15 April 2026
Semi-final
1st legs: 28 & 29 April 2026
2nd legs: 5 & 6 May 2026
30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
Newcastle United’s cup draw record this season
Newcastle haven’t had too much luck in the cup draws so far this season. Although they were able to progress out of the Champions League group, they faced holders PSG away in arguably the toughest tie any side could have drawn.
Fortunately, they had already secured progress before the 1-1 draw in Paris. They also faced former winners Barcelona, Benfica and PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park. After losing 2-1 to Barcelona in their opening match, they picked up comfortable 3-0 wins over Benfica and PSV.
With the exception of facing Bradford City in the third round of the Carabao Cup, Newcastle have been drawn against Premier League opposition in every other domestic cup match. Howe’s side have faced Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, reaching the semi-final.
So far in the FA Cup, they’ve faced AFC Bournemouth and Aston Villa before being drawn against Manchester City in the last-16.
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