The 2024/25 Champions League campaign started on Tuesday night without Newcastle United.
This time last year, Newcastle United were in Europe’s elite competition. Eddie Howe and his players were rubbing shoulders with European football’s best, as a reward for coming fourth in the 2022/23 Premier League.
It was an incredible journey for Newcastle United, even if it ended at the earliest opportunity. The Magpies were dumped out at the group stage, coming bottom behind Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.
Given the calibre of opponent, that is exactly where Eddie Howe’s side were expected to finish. They were thrown into the group of death, and did incredibly well to almost make it out. In fact, they would have at least dropped into the Europa League had it not been for that ridiculous handball given against Tino Livramento away to PSG.
Newcastle will look back at their Champions League campaign with a feeling of fondness and ‘what if’. It was full of great memories, but it could have been even better.
Newcastle United replaced by Aston Villa in Champions League
But they are just memories, with the new Champions League starting on Tuesday night. And Newcastle United will have been very envious of Aston Villa making their return to European football.
Unai Emery’s side emulated Newcastle last season by coming fourth, ensuring they qualified for the Champions League for the first time since it was rebranded in 1991. It is going to be interesting to see how they cope with the additional fixtures, with Paul Scholes suggesting Villa’s squad might not be deep enough, as was the case for Newcastle.
The former European Cup winners were given a relatively easy start to their campaign, as they travelled to Switzerland to face Young Boys.
It proved to be the perfect start for Villa, as they won 3-0 thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana.
In fact, the second goal was so comical that it was hard to believe you were watching a Champions League game.
Newcastle will be jealous of Aston Villa
It was the perfect start for Villa, as they started their Champions League adventure with an emphatic win.
And it was the type of win that Newcastle will be jealous of, as the fixture list has been much kinder to Villa than it was to the Magpies 12 months ago.
Newcastle were in the group of death. Every fixture was a slog, as Howe’s men took on three European heavyweights home and away.
In contrast, the new Champions League format has given Villa some favourable fixtures. Away from the sizeable clashes with Bayern Munich, Juventus and RB Leipzig, Villa will fancy their chances against any opponent. And even their toughest games against Bayern and Juve are at home, which will delight Emery.
For Newcastle, they will watch on with disbelief. Every cup draw they received last season was ridiculous. Had they made it all the way to the Carabao Cup or FA Cup final, there was every chance they would have played either Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona or the 1970 Brazil team!
Fortune and a format change has helped Aston Villa, and it could allow them to really excel in the Champions League. It is a complete contrast to what Newcastle United experienced last season.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
