The UEFA Champions League draw is due to take place from 6pm tonight, with Jamie Reuben one of the Newcastle officials currently in Monaco.
Eddie Howe’s Mags are in pot 4, the lowest of the four pots, and come into the new league phase for the first time since its introduction last season, featuring 36 sides who will all play eight games before the knockout stage.
Newcastle will draw two sides from each of the four pots; one at home and one away. See the confirmed pots below and the ‘toughest’ and ‘easiest’ potential outcomes, based on current UEFA coefficient ranking points:
* Pot 1: Newcastle vs PSG, Real Madrid or Bayern
* Pot 2: Newcastle vs PSV, Ajax or Napoli
* Pot 3: Newcastle vs Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid or Benfica
* Pot 4: Newcastle vs Copenhagen, Monaco, or Galatasaray
* Pot 1: Newcastle vs Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan or Barcelona
* Pot 2: Newcastle vs Club Brugge, Eintracht Frankfurt or Juventus
* Pot 3: Newcastle vs Bodo Glimt, Slavia Praha or Marseille
* Pot 4: Newcastle vs Kairat, Pafos or Qarabag
A mixture of glamour ties and ‘winnable’ games would be our preferred outcome, although the latter has to be the priority based on how it went last time, with tough fixtures costing us a place in the knockout stages.