Champions League draw: Newcastle United find out their opponents for the Champions League league phase today.
Newcastle United will discover the eight clubs they will face in the league phase of this season’s Champions League this evening. The Magpies finished fifth in the Premier League last season to book their return to Europe’s premier club competition.
It will be the second time in three years that Newcastle United have competed in the Champions League, but the first time since the competition was reformatted. Gone are the eight groups of four teams and in its place is a ‘Swiss style’ model with a league phase of eight matches.
The revamped format was introduced ahead of the 2023/24 season with PSG securing their maiden Champions League title with victory over Inter Milan in the final. PSG netted over £70m from their participation in last season’s Champions League, benefiting from a total prize pot that increased following the revamped format.
This season, all 36 clubs competing in the Champions League will net a guaranteed £16mjust for competing in the league stage. Every win in that phase will be worth an additional £1.8m with a draw worth £600,000.
Prize money then increases with every win in the knockout stage with just-shy of an additional £10m for either finishing in the top-eight or winning a play-off round to secure safe passage into the Round of 16. £10.8m is available to quarter final winners with £13m available to semi-final winners.
A place in the final in Budapest on May 30 will guarantee any club just-shy of £16m with an additional £5.6m given to the winner. That kind of prize money could be transformative for Newcastle United and whilst a spot in the very latter stages is probably out of their reach, they know that a favourable draw or two could see them progress into knockout rounds - Aston Villa reached the last-eight last season after all.
Champions League 2025 draw - explained
All of that stunning prize money available to Newcastle United can only be claimed with good results on the pitch. Their last journey in this competition ended after just six games and with just one win secured in that time.
Now, though, they are guaranteed at least eight league phase matches and know that they have to avoid finishing below 24th in the table to ensure they progress to the knockout stage. The Magpies, who have been placed in Pot Four, will be drawn against two teams from each pot, playing one at home and one away from St James’ Park.
They cannot face any English side in the league phase and cannot play against more than two clubs from the same nation in those eight games. With five other English teams competing in this season’s Champions League: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, Eddie Howe’s side know they will avoid games against those.
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Teams Newcastle United can draw from Pot One = PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona.
Teams Newcastle United can draw from Pot Two = Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Club Brugge.
Teams Newcastle United can draw from Pot Three = PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Marseille.
Teams Newcastle United can draw from Pot Four = FC Copenhagen, AS Monaco, Galatasaray, Union St.-Gilloise, FK Qarabag, Athletic Club, Pafos, Kairat Almaty.
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