Newcastle United’s Champions League aspirations took a hit on Tuesday night, then again on Wednesday.
The Magpies have enjoyed a strong start to their 2025/26 European adventure, picking up three wins in a row after losing to Barcelona in their Champions League opener.
However, their momentum was halted at the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday night. Marseille beat Newcastle United 2-1, coming from behind thanks to a helping hand from Nick Pope.
Following the conclusion of the fifth round of fixtures, Eddie Howe’s side have nine points from a possible 15. They are 11th in the league with three games to go, and their next two fixtures suddenly look a lot more challenging than first feared.
Where will Newcastle United finish in the Champions League table?
Newcastle United’s next two Champions League games are suddenly much more difficult
Up next for Newcastle United in the Champions League is Bayer Leverkusen away on 10th December.
That always looked a challenging game, but not one that the Magpies would fear. However, the landscape has slightly changed after what they did on Tuesday night.
Just days after Newcastle’s win over Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen did the same. They went to the Etihad and recorded a 2-0 victory, although that must be caveated by Pep Guardiola making 10 changes.
But it was still a strong Man City side that Bayer Leverkusen beat, as they move to within a point of Newcastle.
After Bayer Leverkusen, Newcastle welcome PSV Eindhoven to St James’ Park. They also recorded a huge result over Premier League opposition this week, inflicting more misery on Liverpool with a 4-1 win at Anfield.
They are also now on eight points, agonisingly close to the Magpies.
While Liverpool are in a bad place, winning at Anfield should not be understated. PSV’s victory puts a new perspective on Newcastle’s game against them at St James’ Park, with both sides battling to advance to the next stage of the competition.
Newcastle United fans, give us your actual experiences of Marseille…
Use the comment button on the bottom right to give us your best and worst experiences. Have your say!
Newcastle United must sort Champions League fate before facing PSG
To put Newcastle United under more pressure, they ideally need to get results in their next two games because of who they face in the final round of Champions League fixtures.
They head to Paris for a rematch with Paris-Saint Germain, as they look for revenge for what happened in November 2023. That Tino Livramento handball still hurts for Toon fans, whose side were robbed of a famous victory.
Fast forward two years and PSG are a very different side. They are the European champions for a reason.
If Newcastle United go into that final game against them needing a result then there will be genuine fear that this European adventure could end earlier than anticipated. That would hurt Newcastle financially, with not reaching the knockout stage potentially seeing them miss out on £15million.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
