Champions League — Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen storm into the round of 16

Newcastle United took their place in the last 16 knockout stages of the Champions League by beating Qarabag 3-2 at St. James’ Park on Tuesday, winning 9-3. There was no doubt about the outcome after Newcastle beat Qarabag 6-1 in the first leg of the play-off in Baku last week, but expectations of a second goal proved short-lived after a promising start.

Newcastle were 2-0 up after six minutes and the fans were in full party mode. Lihat juga rfv5. The two goals came within 80 seconds from Sandro Tonali in the fourth minute and Joelinton on the volley in the sixth.

Unlike in Baku, where Newcastle were already 5-0 up at half-time, the Magpies took it easy and allowed Qarabag back into the match as the expected thrashing in the second leg failed to materialise.

Camilo Duran pulled a goal back for the visitor in the 50th minute, but Newcastle responded immediately with Sven Botman scoring his first Champions League goal two minutes later after a header from Kieran Trippier’s corner.

Manager Eddie Howe brought Anthony Gordon, the four-goal hero from the first leg, off the bench in place of Joelinton in the 54th minute with the score at 3–1, but the change had little impact.

Three minutes later the score became 3-2 when Elvin Jafarguliyev scored with a left-footed shot after Aaron Ramsdale had saved Marko Jankovic’s penalty following a Dan Burn handball.

“At 2-0 we probably came off the pedal, we didn’t intend to do that, but that was the natural reaction,” Howe said. “If you look at the score over the two legs I think it was fantastic from the players, although for us it feels a bit of a hollow win.”

Newcastle will now play Barcelona or Chelsea in the knockout stages, two teams they played recently, with the draw on Friday.

Barcelona beat St. James 2-1 in the Champions League last September, while Chelsea drew 2-2 during their visit to the Premier League in December.

«We really enjoyed the game against Barcelona and we also had a good game here against Chelsea. We didn’t win either, so hopefully that bodes well for us,» said Howe, who said reaching the knockout stages had been the goal at the start of the season.

Tuesday marked the first time Newcastle have won six games in a single Champions League campaign.

It will be the first time they have reached the knockout stages, although they reached the then second group stage of 16 clubs in 2003.

Leverkusen swims past Olympiacos Piraeus

Bayer Leverkusen endured late pressure but earned a 0-0 draw against visitors Olympiacos Piraeus on Tuesday to book the last 16 spot with a 2-0 aggregate win in the knockout play-off.

Leverkusen, who won the first leg in Greece 2-0 last week thanks to Patrik Schick’s double, will now face German rivals Bayern Munich or Arsenal in the round of ⁠16 next month. The draw will take place on Friday.

“We achieved our goal and that is the result that counts,” said Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich. «We invested a lot in both games and worked hard. Maybe not everything looked great today, but we got through it.»

«Now there is an absolutely top team waiting for us in Bayern or Arsenal.»

The visiting side were disciplined and gradually increased the pressure to go close twice early in the second half, with Blaswich firing a Gelson-Martins full-length wide.

The hosts, now keeping a clean sheet at home for the fifth straight match in all competitions, responded with a chance of their own when Player-of-the-Match Alex Grimaldo rattled the crossbar with a close-range effort in the 62nd minute.

However, Olympiakos kept the team firmly on the back foot in the final twenty minutes and had a number of late chances.

Lorenzo Scipioni came painfully close for the Greeks late in the match when he fired a shot narrowly wide, but Leverkusen held on for the draw.

Published on February 25, 2026