Final Champions League 2025/26 table - here's where Newcastle United are predicted to finish after 4-0 win
Newcastle United beat Union SG 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night with goals from Nick Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes.
Newcastle United picked up their biggest ever Champions League win on Wednesday night as they beat Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 at Lotto Park in Brussels.
Goals from Nick Woltemade and Harvey Barnes, either side of two Anthony Gordon penalties, saw The Magpies to a comfortable win against the Belgian champions and got their Champions League campaign up and running after a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona a fortnight ago.
The result also saw Newcastle pick up their first Champions League away win since a 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in 2003.
Newcastle are competing in the new 36-team group phase format for the first time. The format sees the top eight sides qualify for the last-16 while teams ranked ninth to 24th take part in a seeded knockout round play-off tie.
Teams ranked 25th and below exit the competition and Europe entirely, a change from the previous format, which saw teams ranked third in the four team groups enter the Europa League.
The new format sees United face eight different clubs, four at home and four away. After Union SG, they face Benfica, Athletic Bilbao and PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park along with trips to Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and holders Paris Saint-Germain.
Newcastle have never reached the knockout round of the Champions League having qualified for the group stage three times previously. In 2002/03, The Magpies managed to get out of their initial group but entered a second group phase as part of an old last-16 format.
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Last time out in the Champions League in 2023/24, Newcastle got off to a strong start with a 0-0 draw at AC Milan followed up with a memorable 4-1 win over PSG. The Magpies sat top of their group after two games but ended up finishing bottom after taking just one more point from their final four group matches.
Newcastle sit 11th out of 36 teams after taking three points from their opening two games with a healthy goal difference.
Newcastle are one of a record six English teams competing in the Champions League this season. The Magpies entered the competition through the European Performance Spot route that granted fifth place in the Premier League entry to Europe’s elite club competition.
They joined last season’s top four of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea as well as Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur, who finished the league season in 17th place.
This season, an Opta supercomputer has predicted the Champions League group phase table and ranked every side based on their expected points (xpts) total, taking into account the matchday one and matchday two results.
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Champions League group phase table predicted
The Opta table from bottom to top after matchday two is as follows...
36. Kairat Almaty - 3.11xpts
35. Ajax - 5.90xpts
34. Slavia Prague - 6.29xpts
33. Athletic Club - 6.57xpts
32. PSV Eindhoven - 6.86xpts
31. Copenhagen - 6.99xpts
30. Bodo/Glimt - 7.24xpts
29. Pafos - 7.82xpts
28. Benfica - 8.04xpts
27. Olympiacos - 8.62xpts
26. AS Monaco - 8.85xpts
25. Bayer Leverkusen - 9.21xpts
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24. Eintracht Frankfurt - 9.45xpts
23. Vilarreal - 9.56xpts
22. Marseille - 9.66xpts
21. Union Saint-Gilloise - 10.30xpts
20. Club Brugge - 10.51xpts
19. Sporting Lisbon - 10.58xpts
18. Galatasaray - 10.76xpts
17. Qarabag - 11.01xpts
16. Juventus - 11.02xpts
15. Atletico Madrid - 11.80xpts
14. Atalanta - 12.47xpts
13. Newcastle United - 12.93xpts
12. Napoli - 13.13xpts
11. Tottenham Hotspur - 13.25xpts
10. Borussia Dortmund - 13.34xpts
9. Chelsea - 13.87xpts
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8. Barcelona - 15.07xpts
7. Inter Milan - 15.16xpts
6. Liverpool - 15.39xpts
5. Manchester City - 15.57xpts
4. Real Madrid - 15.59xpts
3. Bayern Munich - 16.07xpts
2. Paris Saint-Germain - 17.39xpts
1. Arsenal - 18.51xpts
Who will Newcastle United face in the next round?
Based on the predicted table, Newcastle would enter the knockout round play-off tie, where they would face another trip to Belgium to face Club Brugge over two legs in the new year. But there’s plenty of football to play and twists and turns to come before then.