Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, smiles during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Knockout Play-off Second Leg match between Newcastle United FC and Qarabag FK at St James' Park on February 24, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, smiles during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Knockout Play-off Second Leg match between Newcastle United FC and Qarabag FK at St James' Park on February 24, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Newcastle United 3-2 Qarabag: Eddie Howe had his say after Newcastle secured progress to the Champions League last-16.
The Magpies won the knockout round play-off tie 9-3 on aggregate, having won 6-1 in Baku last week.
Goals from Sandro Tonali and Joelinton saw Eddie Howe’s side race into a 2-0 lead on the night at St James’ Park before Camilo Duran pulled a goal back early in the second half. Sven Botman restored Newcastle’s two-goal advantage shortly after.
Qarabag made it 3-2 on the night as Elvin Jafarguliyev grabbed his second goal of the tie as he pounced on Aaron Ramsdale’s penalty save from Marko Jankovic.
Newcastle will now face either Chelsea or Barcelona in the last-16, with the draw to be made at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland on Friday from 11am GMT.
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Job done for Newcastle United
“It’s a massive achievement for us to get to the last 16,” Howe said. “Nothing was given to us at the start of this Champions League run. I love the new format.
“I think it’s a really, really good thing. You get to see individual teams and then move on to another one. We’ve really enjoyed it.
“Then you come to the pressure games, the doubleheader. We’ve navigated that really well because it’s a tough draw at this stage, no matter who you play.
“We did the majority of the work in the away game. We’ve come through really well and today we were able to rotate to a degree, with mixed success. I thought it wasn’t a great performance, but the main thing is we won.”
NUFC last-16 opponents: Chelsea or Barcelona
Newcastle will now face a familiar opponent in the last-16 as they will come up against Premier League rivals Chelsea or a Barcelona side that beat them 2-1 at St James’ Park in their opening Champions League match back in September.
But Howe expects it to be a great occasion regardless.
“That’s the great thing about our season now,” he added. “There’s a positive feel. Whoever we get in the next round will be an amazing tie.
“I believe we can raise our game and compete with anybody. That’s what we’ll have to do. It’s a massive boost for our season to get through this knockout phase and into the next one.
“We have to believe in ourselves. We’ve seen the best of ourselves this year in cup and one-off games where we’ve risen to the challenge.
“We’ll have to do that again. The challenge now is returning to the Premier League and building consistency in performance and style.
“Today was the poorest performance in the last group, but we’ve won four out of five. Perspective matters. Big games coming, starting with Everton.”
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