Champions League knockout draw: UEFA will make the draw at Friday from 11am as Newcastle United and the 15 other clubs find out their opponents.
Newcastle United have progressed to the last-16 of the Champions League after finishing 12th in the league phase before beating Qarabag 9-3 on aggregate in the knockout round play-offs.
It was comfortable progress for Eddie Howe’s side as they beat Qarabag 6-1 in Baku last week before seeing out the tie with a 3-2 victory at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.
It sees Newcastle reach the last-16 of the Champions League for the second time, the first in a knockout format.
The Magpies knew before they faced Qarabag that the winners of the knockout play-off would take on either Chelsea or Barcelona in the last-16 of the competition.
Both sides have a rich history in the competition, with Barcelona winning it five times and Chelsea winning it twice. Barcelona also beat Newcastle 2-1 at St James’ Park in the opening round of fixtures in this season’s league phase.
Marcus Rashford scored twice to put Barcelona 2-0 up before Anthony Gordon pulled a goal back late on.
Newcastle have faced Barcelona five times in the Champions League historically. That could be extended to seven depending on Friday’s draw.
The Magpies have never faced English opposition in the Champions League before and have only done so once in Europe previously. In the 1969/70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Newcastle knocked out Southampton on away goals following a 0-0 draw at St James’ Park and 1-1 draw at The Dell.
Should Newcastle face Chelsea, they would play them three times in a row with each Champions League leg falling either side of a trip to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
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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Barcelona tease Champions League draw
Ahead of Friday’s draw, Barcelona took to social media to tease their ‘possible rivals’ in the upcoming round of the Champions League.
The La Liga side will face either Newcastle or holders Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16. The Magpies stopped PSG qualifying automatically in a top eight place by holding them to a 1-1 draw in Paris last month.
Barcelona posted a graphic showing the club crests of Newcastle and PSG along with the caption: “Friday will tell.”
Who could Newcastle United face in the Champions League knockout stages?
In addition to finding out whether they will face Chelsea or Barcelona in the last-16, Newcastle will also discover their potential route to the final.
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 Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool or Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final. On Friday it will be clear whether it’s Spurs or Liverpool who face Atletico Madrid in the last-16 - the other side will be placed on the other side of the draw and play Galatasaray.
The winners of the quarter-final will then face one of Bodo/Glimt, Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester City, Sporting, Bayern Munich or Arsenal in the semi-final. Again two of Man City, Sporting, Bayern Munich and Arsenal will be removed from Newcastle’s path on Friday and placed on the other side of the draw.
Newcastle can’t face league phase opponents and holders PSG 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
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