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Newcastle United to face five former Champions League winners

After missing out on Europe entirely last season due to Manchester United’s FA Cup win under Erik Ten Haag, Champions League football returns to St James' Park for this campaign.

Among those drawn at random for Newcastle’s upcoming opponents are defending champions PSG.

The Toon Army will pay a visit to the French capital, where they had been during the 2023/24 season.

Before their trip to Paris in the group stage that season however, they hosted the French giants who at the time had never won Europe’s premium prize.

As underdogs, they dismantled PSG 4-1 and even in the reverse fixture they held them to an incredible draw.

Alexander Isak anticipated the rebound to notch the unexpected opener, and Newcastle defended expertly before Kylian Mbappe’s penalty levelled the tie at the death, despite a controversial VAR intervention.

That point almost cost the Parisians an automatic qualification spot in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ featuring European titans Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan too.

So clearly there is unfinished business for PSG to settle, and they will be looking to exact revenge and capitalise on their chances, unlike their displays where they ultimately lacked the clinical edge against The Magpies.

The initial ecstasy at St James' Park was short-lived as they finished bottom of the group, despite the monumental effort in Paris.

Colliding with European giants

The Magpies will also meet four other former European champions in the league phase.

Hosting Barcelona is perhaps a less daunting task than facing them at Camp Nou, considering their intimidating attacking form carrying over from last season’s Champions League performances.

In the first ever contest between the two sides on Tyneside, Faustino Asprilla delivered a memorable hat-trick to defeat the Catalans, who featured Luis Enrique and Luis Figo and they both got their names on the scoresheet that night in the Champions League.

Another journey to France also awaits the Newcastle faithful as they have been drawn to collide with French top flight runners-up Marseille.

With former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi steering the ship, there will be some familiarity along with new permanent signings Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Neal Maupay all being renowned Premier League faces entering the fold for the Ligue One outfit.

They will also face the Portuguese runners-up from last term Benfica, who rarely miss a season in the Champions League and secured back-to-back trophies in the tournament during the 1960s.

And finally Newcastle will welcome Dutch champions PSV, who pipped Ajax to the league title by just one point. PSV got the better of Newcastle on both occasions when they appeared in the same Champions League group in 1997/98.

Fixtures Newcastle cannot afford to slip up in

The remaining fixtures still seem quite difficult on paper.

Although Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Granit Xhaka have left the Germans as well as successful manager Xabi Alonso, new additions Malik Tillman, Jarell Quansah and Mark Flekken to name a few still pose a considerable threat.

Spanish side Athletic Club also take the trip to Tyneside, and they impressively finished 4th in La Liga last season, while retaining highly sought-after winger and Spain international Nico Williams. This will only boost their chances of causing upsets.

However, the club based in Bilbao take to the grandest stage of European competition for the first time in over a decade.

Finally, Newcastle will make the trip to the Stade Joseph Marien in Brussels as favourites against the Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise.

The newcomers will undoubtedly find it difficult to emerge victorious from this tie, let alone from the league phase, so Newcastle should be favourites. However, they should not underestimate the atmosphere, while preparation for the pressure seems vital to withstand a defeat there.

Furthermore, the schedule for when these matches will take place is being released on Saturday.

There is an element of luck involved since some of these more challenging fixtures may fall at the right time with domestic affairs.

Meanwhile, by losing more than half of their eight league phase matches, they can still be granted an opportunity to qualify for the next stage.

This seems to be a controversial feature of the new format even though clubs are raking in significant revenue from their participation.

Once the Alexander Isak situation is resolved and his likely replacement Nick Woltemade joins, it will be time for Eddie Howe’s men to focus on their duties on the pitch fully.

With the squad at his disposal, Howe should be capable of progressing to the next stage. Their home performances and results against the smaller teams too will be pivotal to the outcome.

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