Newcastle United Europe: Pot number and potential opponents as Champions League predicted

Winning the Carabao Cup didn’t only end a 70-year domestic trophy drought for Newcastle United, it also ensured their return to Europe. The Magpies missed out on a second campaign in Europe due to Manchester United winning the FA Cup last season, even though Eddie Howe’s men finished above the Red Devils in the Premier League table.

Last year their fate was out of their hands, due to a faltering campaign, but this time it’s all in their own, with a spot in the UEFA Conference League, won by West Ham United two years back, already in the bag. Now, in fairness, that’s probably not the competition the Magpies will want to play in for any number of reasons, even though it would be another ‘easier’ route to trophy No.2 under Howe. The finances of getting in the Champions League, as well as the prestige of playing in that, or the lesser Europa League, far outweigh a spot in Europe’s third competition, which is handed to the Magpies as winners of the Carabao Cup.

Newcastle United are, at present, projected to finish 5th in the Premier League, which should be enough for a spot in the Champions League when one of England’s remaining representatives in European competition wins in the next week. Sixth is likely to then be Europa League.

We have looked at what clubs are likely to be in each competition at present - and what that means for the pot Newcastle United would enter, for the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. Below are the results, although this must caveated with the fact there’s still A LOT of football to play.

Newcastle United in the Champions League

Format: Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.

Projected pot: 4

Possible opponents pot 1: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen

Possible opponents pot 2: Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Club Brugge, PSV, Ajax

Possible opponents pot 3: Lille, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Slavia Praha, Marseille, Salzburg, Fenerbahce, Bodo/Glimt

Possible opponents pot 4: Copenhagen, Crvena Zvezda, Monaco, Galatasaray, Celtic, Athletic Bilbao, Mainz

Newcastle United in the Europa League

Format: Each side faces eight different teams (four at home, four away). The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. From then on it is a straight knockout.

Projected pot: 3

Possible opponents pot 1: Lazio, Porto, Leipzig, Rangers, Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar, Shakhtar Donetsk, Real Betis

Possible opponents pot 2: Braga, Lyon, Ferencvaros, Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Union SG, Young Boys, Basel

Possible opponents pot 3: Midtjylland, Sparta Praha, Legia Warsaw, Anderlecht, Dynamo Kyiv, Sturm Graz, FCSB, Nice, Bologna

Possible opponents pot 4: Rayo Vallecano, Stuttgart, Panathinaikos, Besiktas, Malmo, Utrecht, Genk, AEK Athens, Rakow

Newcastle United in the Conference League

Format: Each side faces six different teams (three at home, three away). The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. From then on it is a straight knockout.

Projected pot: 2

Possible opponents pot 1: Fiorentina, Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK, Gent, Slovan Bratislava, Qarabag

Possible opponents pot 2: Djurgardens, Rapid Wien, Freiburg, Ludogorets Razgrad, Sheriff Tiraspol

Possible opponents pot 3: Cluj, Lech Poznan, Celta Vigo, Maccabi Haifa, Omonia Nicosia, Olimpija Ljubljana

Possible opponents pot 4: Hapoel Beer Sheva, Strasbourg, Jagiellonia Bialystok, Twente, Zalgiris Vilnius, Pafos

Possible opponents pot 5: FC RFS, Mostar, Hajduk Split, Kups, Hibernian, Brondby

Possible opponents pot 6: Puskas Akademia, Dinamo Minsk, Aris Limassol, Kairat, Noah, Iberia 1999