Newcastle United made a long-awaited comeback to the Champions League back in 2023/24. Their fourth-placed Premier League finish in 2022/23 saw them return to the competition for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Of course, this won’t be the first time that the Magpies competed at the peak of European football. They’ve been there before and faced some of the game’s giants.
Given they haven’t been Champions League regulars, you would be forgiven for struggling to recall just how the Magpies got on in the past.
Football FanCast has taken a look back at how Newcastle did in previous years.
1997/98 – Group stage
The mid-90s saw Newcastle make waves in English football, including breaking the world transfer record to sign Alan Shearer in 1996.
While they fell agonisingly short of winning the Premier League, the Mapgies took advantage of changes in UEFA rules that allowed for non-champions to compete in their main competition.
They did need to win a qualifier, but a 4-3 aggregate win over Dinamo Zagreb (then known as Croatia Zagreb) put them into group stages. Waiting for them? Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona.
The group stage was also different in those days – there were only six in total, with the winners going straight through to the quarter-finals. The two best-placed runners-up would take the remaining berths in the final eight, meaning Newcastle were up against it to progress.
Things started off brilliantly with a 3-2 win against Barcelona that continues to live long in the memory. Faustino Asprilla earned and scored a penalty before planting a bullet header in the Barca net to leave the Toon faithful in dreamland.
He completed his hat-trick with another header moments into the second half, before Louis van Gaal’s side staged their comeback.
But consolation goals from Luis Enrique and Luis Figo were not enough to prevent the Magpies from grabbing the perfect start to their group campaign.
A 2-2 draw in Kyiv followed, with Newcastle 2-0 down until a late fightback earned a point.
PSV, however, would then pick up back-to-back wins over Newcastle – without the Magpies scoring a goal. In fact, they’d then lost 1-0 to Barca before finally finding more points in the final game against Kyiv thanks to a 2-0 home win.
Newcastle weren’t able to overcome the talent in that group, finishing third behind PSV and… Kyiv. Yes, Barcelona finished bottom of the group, having lost 3-0 and 4-0 to the Ukrainian side.
That maybe makes a bit more sense when you learn a young Andriy Shevchenko scored five goals in six games for Kyiv that season, including a hat-trick at Camp Nou.
All in all, Newcastle were incredibly unfortunate. They came up against three great sides, but certainly had moments to savour.
Second qualifying round, 1st leg
Newcastle 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Beresford (2); Cvitanovic
Second qualifying round, 2nd leg
Dinamo Zagreb 2-2 Newcastle (aet)
Simic, Cvitanovic; Asprilla, Ketsbaia
Group C
Newcastle 3-2 Barcelona
Asprilla (3); Luis Enrique, Figo
Group C
Dynamo Kyiv 2-2 Newcastle
Rebrov, Shevchenko; Beresford, Holovko (og)
Group C
PSV 1-0 Newcastle
Jonk
Group C
Newcastle 0-2 PSV
Nilis, De Bilde
Group C
Barcelona 1-0 Newcastle
Giovanni
Group C
Newcastle 2-0 Dynamo Kyiv
Barnes, Pearce
Dynamo Kyiv
6
3
2
1
13
6
+7
11
PSV
6
2
3
1
9
8
+1
9
Newcastle
6
2
1
3
7
8
-1
7
Barcelona
6
1
2
3
7
14
-7
5
2002/03 – Second group phase
Newcastle had to wait a while before getting another crack at the Champions League. They qualified in 2002/03, though – but once again needed to play a qualifying round. Bosnian outfit Zeljeznicar fell to them 5-0 on aggregate, putting the Magpies back in the group stage.
And oh, was it one to remember. Newcastle found Juventus, Dynamo Kyiv and Feyenoord waiting for them and started as miserably as possible. They lost all three of their opening games to sit on zero points at the halfway mark.
But then something magic happened. Newcastle beat Juventus, beat Kyiv, and set up a historic tie with Feyenoord on the final matchday.
If they could claim victory in the Netherlands – and Juve beat Kyiv – Newcastle could qualify, with two slots available in the next phase of the competition.
They did just that, thanks to Craig Bellamy scoring a 91st-minute winner and Juve winning 2-1. That was history – Newcastle were the first side to ever lose their first three games and still get out of the group.
Third qualifying round, 1st leg
Zeljeznicar 0-1 Newcastle
Dyer
Third qualifying round, 2nd leg
Newcastle 4-0 Zeljeznicar
Dyer, Lua Lua, Viana, Shearer
First group phase, Group E
Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 Newcastle
Shatskikh, Khatskevich
First group phase, Group E
Newcastle 0-1 Feyenoord
Pardo
First group phase, Group E
Juventus 2-0 Newcastle
Del Piero (2)
First group phase, Group E
Newcastle 1-0 Juventus
Griffin
First group phase, Group E
Newcastle 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv
Speed, Shearer; Shatskikh
First group phase, Group E
Feyenoord 2-3 Newcastle
Bombarda, Lurling; Bellamy (2), Viana
Juventus
6
4
1
1
12
3
+9
13
Newcastle
6
3
0
3
6
8
-2
9
Dynamo Kyiv
6
2
1
3
6
9
-3
7
Feyenoord
6
1
2
3
4
8
-4
5
Their reward, of course, was yet another group phase. If you’re not familiar, there used to be two group stages before the switch to the format we see today. Barcelona, Inter and Bayer Leverkusen waited.
Leverkusen – the previous year’s finalists – proved no match for the Magpies, losing 3-1 twice in succession.
Newcastle couldn’t quite compete with Barcelona and Inter, however. The Catalonians beat them twice, while Inter smashed them 4-1 at St James’ Park. A 2-2 draw at San Siro provided an extra point, but Newcastle’s seven saw them out as the third-placed team.
Second group phase, Group A
Newcastle 1-4 Inter
Solano; Morfeo, Almeyda, Crespo, Recoba
Second group phase, Group A
Barcelona 3-1 Newcastle
Garcia, Kluivert, Motta; Ameobi
Second group phase, Group A
Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 Newcastle
Franca; Ameobi (2), Lua Lua
Second group phase, Group A
Newcastle 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Shearer (3); Babic
Second group phase, Group A
Inter 2-2 Newcastle
Vieri, Cordoba; Shearer (2)
Second group phase, Group A
Newcastle 0-2 Barcelona
Kluivert, Motta
Barcelona
6
5
1
0
12
2
+10
16
Inter
6
3
2
1
11
8
+3
11
Newcastle
6
2
1
3
10
13
-3
7
Bayer Leverkusen
6
0
0
6
5
15
-10
0
2003/04 – Third qualifying round
Unfortunately, this one ends on something of a sour note. Newcastle were back in the competition the following season and, once again, needed to win a qualifying match.
But they slipped up. Newcastle were able to pick up a 1-0 win away from home, and with the away goals rule in effect, seemed well-placed to snatch a group-stage berth. Unfortunately, the Serbians returned the favour, and then some – with Partizan winning on penalties.
Shearer was among four Newcastle players to miss in the shootout, which had remarkably gone to sudden death despite the home side missing their first three penalties.
Aaron Hughes missed the crucial penalty before Milivoje Cirkovic stepped up to break Toon hearts.
That dropped the Magpies down to the UEFA Cup, where they made it to the semi-finals. Beaten by eventual losing finalists Marseille, a double from a certain Didier Drogba ended the Toon’s European adventure that year.
That season marks the last time they competed under the Champions League banner. Of course, that will change come September.
2023/24 – Group stage
Newcastle’s fourth-place finish in the 2022/23 Champions League handed them an automatic group stage berth, with Eddie Howe’s side placed in the ‘Group of Death’ alongside PSG, Milan and Borussia Dortmund.
Things started well with a commendable draw in Milan and a historic 4-1 win over PSG, but things unravelled from there as three defeats and a late equaliser denying them a win in Paris saw Newcastle finish bottom of the group.
Newcastle United's top scorers in the Champions League
Alan Shearer unsurprisingly leads the way in terms of goals at this level for Newcastle with seven, having spearheaded their incredible journey through the group stages back in 2002/03.
Faustino Asprilla has four to his name, while John Beresford and Shola Ameobi have three apiece, including one at Camp Nou for the latter.
There were six different scorers for each of Newcastle’s goals in the 2023/24 Champions League – will anyone be able to add to their tally in 2025/26?
Alan Shearer
7
Faustino Asprilla
4
John Beresford
3
Shola Ameobi
3
Kieron Dyer
2
Lomana Lua Lua
2
Hugo Viana
2
Craig Bellamy
2
Nolberto Solano
2
Temuri Ketsbaia
1
John Barnes
1
Stuart Pearce
1
Andy Griffin
1
Gary Speed
1
Miguel Almiron
1
Dan Burn
1
Sean Longstaff
1
Fabian Schar
1
Alexander Isak
1
Joelinton
1
