Newcastle United will land multi-million PSR boost - if this happens v Marseille

Newcastle United play their fifth game of this season’s Champions League tonight when they face Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

Eddie Howe’s side have won three of their four league phase matches to date, with their only defeat coming in their first outing against Barcelona. Since then, victories against Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica and, most recently, Athletic Club, have catapulted them into the top-eight of the competition.

Those wins, by 4-0, 3-0 and 2-0 scorelines respectively, have also netted the Magpies £5.4m in prize money. That, added to the £16m they will receive simply for taking part in the league phase of the Champions League, means that they have already received north of £20m in prize money.

A win tonight in the south of France will see that prize money pot increase again by £1.8m. A draw would be worth £600,000 to their coffers.

Moreover, a win tonight would also greatly boost their chances of finishing in the top-eight of the competition and thus guaranteeing themselves a place in the last-16 of the competition, without the need to play an extra qualifying play-off game. Progressing into the last-16, either directly via position in the table or through the play-off round, is worth an additional £10m for clubs.

£10.8m is available to quarter final winners with £13m available to semi-final winners. A place in the final in Budapest on May 30 will guarantee any club just-shy of £16m with an additional £5.6m given to the winner.

UEFA Champions League league phase predicted table

That kind of prize money could be transformative for Newcastle United, particularly in a world of PSR, and whilst thinking about winning the whole competition is fanciful, they will have their eyes set on progressing deep into the competition. Aston Villa, who finished below them in the Premier League table, reached the quarter final stage last season before falling to eventual winners PSG.

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Last season was the first time the newly-formatted Champions League had been introduced and saw Villa finish eighth in the league phase with 16 points from their eight matches. Club Brugge, meanwhile, finished 24th in the table and were the final team to qualify for the play-off round. They progressed having taken 11 points (with a goal difference of -4) from their eight games.

The Magpies have already amassed nine points with four matches, including tonight’s game, still to play. It is expected that the points total required to finish in the top-24 this season will be lower than last year, meaning that a win tonight for Howe’s could all-but guarantee their place in the knockout stages - and a big step closer to that £10m in prize money for doing so.

Tonight, though, they face a stern test against Roberto De Zerbi’s side who, despite having won just once so far in the Champions League, are in good form in the league and comprehensively defeated local rivals Nice 5-1 away from home on Friday night. The Magpies, meanwhile, will hope to prove that they can win games on the road in Europe and continue the momentum garnered from their win over Manchester City at the weekend.

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