Newcastle United can't resist cheeky dig at Sunderland ahead of Champions League tie v Benfica
Newcastle United’s social media team couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at Sunderland ahead of the Champions League tie with Benfica.
Newcastle United are back in Champions League action tonight as they host Benfica at St James’ Park (kick-off 8pm).
The Magpies continued their patchy start to the new Premier League season on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion. Nick Woltemade cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opener before Welbeck scored the winner in the 86th minute.
Eight games in and Eddie Howe’s side have won just two so far, with those coming against teams currently in the relegation zone, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Other matches have saw United draw with Aston Villa, Leeds United and AFC Bourmemouth, and lose to Liverpool and Arsenal.
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United sit 13th in the Premier League table, five points behind Sunderland in 7th, but that hasn’t stopped the club’s social media team from poking fun at their bitter Tyne-Wear rivals.
Newcastle United admin aims cheeky dig at Sunderland
Ahead of tonight’s game, Newcastle released a playful ‘Portuguese visitor guide to Newcastle’, encouraging the travelling Benfica supporters to check out some of the River Tyne’s bridges.
“Welcome to our Portuguese visitors,” the narrator starts. “Looking for things to do in Newcastle? Then look no further than some of our amazing bridges.
“Visit the Scotswood Bridge, it’ll set your heart Blaydon racing. See the Newburn Bridge, engineering for the river crossing connoisseur. Have the Tyne of your life and marvel at the iconic Tyne Bridge, it’s a right bobby dazzler.”
And then comes the cheeky dig at Sunderland. The video shows a picture of the Monkwearmouth Railway Bridge before the narrator says, “Erm, no need to go across this one, there’s no Champions League over there!”
Sunderland have never played in the Champions League
Sunderland have never played in the Champions League or any of UEFA’s current competitions, including the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
The Black Cats did play in the Cup Winners’ Cup after winning the FA Cup in 1973, but played just four matches after being knocked out by Sporting Lisbon over two legs in the second round.
Meanwhile, Newcastle have competed in the Champions League group phase on four separate occasions, including two of the last three seasons.
Overall, the Magpies have played 142 matches in Europe and by the end of their current campaign will have overtaken Leeds United.
In terms of English teams, only Manchester City (216), Spurs (278), Chelsea (320), Arsenal (363), Manchester United (436) and Liverpool (450) have played more games in Europe than Newcastle.