Celtic’s 7-0 defeat to Barcelona in 2016 has been used as a way to question the quality of Scottish football for years, but Newcastle United’s Champions League humiliation is so much worse.
Brendan Rodgers’ side were humbled at the Nou Camp in embarrassing fashion as they couldn’t cope with the intensity and quality of the Catalan side. Newcastle were somehow even worse in their Champions League round of 16 contest though, losing 8-3 on aggregate and 7-2 in the second leg.
Scorelines will suggest that the Hoops’ loss was worse than Newcastle’s, but when you look deeper, it is the Premier League club who should be even more embarrassed.
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Celtic’s squad value was a fraction of Newcastle’s for Barcelona humbling
Newcastle are one of the richest clubs in the world and have been spending money like it’s going out of fashion in recent years.
A £50m here, a £60m player there, it is incomparable to what Celtic’s side was worth when they faced Barcelona.
Their most expensive signing that night was Scott Sinclair, who joined for around £3.5m, whereas Nick Woltemade blew that out of the water by becoming the Magpies’ record signing for £69m.
Cristian Gamboa of Celtic FC, Scott Brown of Celtic FC, Neymar of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League group C match between FC Barcelona and Celtic
Photo by VI Images via Getty Images
Celtic’s total squad value that night equated to £145m, nowhere near Newcastle’s valuation of £710m.
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The starting XI was even worse. Rodgers’ team had a valuation of £15m while, on the other hand, Newcastle’s was worth £480m.
That level of quality should be more than enough to avoid being humiliated in the way they did and, given how much the Premier League likes to label itself as the best in the world.
Metric Celtic (September 2016) Newcastle (March 2026)
Starting XI squad value £15m £480m
Total squad value £145m £710m
Record signing Scott Sinclair (£3.5m) Nick Woltemade (£69m)
Final score Barcelona 7-0 Celtic Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle Utd
This is before you even take into account that Celtic faced a Barcelona side blessed with the peak era of the ‘MSN’ attack (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar) in comparison to a Barca side playing Newcastle that would be considered a lot weaker than previous iterations.
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