Newcastle United & Manchester United Champions League boost that will divide opinion
Newcastle United’s European fate has been decided heading into the final game of the season at Fulham.
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe is focusing on the positives after the club missed out on European football this season.
Despite the European places dropping to eighth and the Champions League places potentially dropping as low as sixth (depending on the final day results), Newcastle can only finish as high as ninth and will therefore miss out on European qualification entirely.
It comes after the club finished fifth and qualified for the Champions League last season. But this season has been a different story as Howe’s side struggled for form in the Premier League and currently sit 11th in the table heading into the final day.
11th place represents the lowest finish Newcastle have had since the 2021 Saudi-led takeover. That season, the side failed to win any of their opening 14 matches and were involved in a relegation battle for the majority of the campaign.
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A tough season
Now, on the back of the £130million Premier League record sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool and the club’s biggest ever transfer window spend last summer, things have largely failed to progress on the pitch.
The Magpies reached the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and the last-16 of both the FA Cup and Champions League, but their league form has suffered with the added fixtures and limited training time.
The same happened the last time Newcastle played in the Champions League during the 2023/24 season. Back then, the side finished seventh which looked set to be enough to secure a European spot but they were denied one after the season had ended as Manchester United won the FA Cup without finishing in a European place.
And it’s Man United as well as their former selves Newcastle will be hoping to replicate next season. Without European football and early knockouts of the domestic competitions, the Red Devils were able to focus solely on the Premier League and have secured a third place finish as a result.
Newcastle’s two full seasons under Howe without European football to contend with has seen the side qualify for the Champions League. It’s not an ideal trend for Newcastle to be a yo-yo European side, but Howe is determined to make the best of a disappointing situation.
Eddie Howe focusing on the positives
When asked about Manchester United’s season and bouncing back from missing out on Europe, Howe said: “I think you have to look at that because there's no point being negative for too long.
“I think you've got to come out with a clear head and you've got to go, right, this is the way forward. So we've done well with no European games in the Premier League when we've had that scenario.
“I think it makes things a little bit simpler for us and what our aims are. And then we have to go about achieving it.”
Frustratingly for Newcastle, they were still not too far away from qualifying for Europe despite a disappointing season. Roughly a third of their Premier League goals conceded have come in the final 10 minutes of matches while they have dropped 27 points from winning positions this season, the most of any side.
Had they avoided conceding just a handful of late goals and held onto only a few more leads, they could have found themselves not only in the European conversation, but the Champions League one.
Ultimately, supporters’ opinion will be divided on Newcastle’s trend of missing out on European football in the seasons they compete in it. The Magpies will be expected to improve next season but they are still behind the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and even Aston Villa, who are able to consistently qualify for Europe.