Champions League Draw

The Champion’s League draw has been completed, and we now know the 8 teams that Newcastle will face in their first run at the new larger format. We have been giving a tough draw which the OPTA analysist has determined is the fifth hardest on paper in the League phase.

Here are the 8 teams we will face

PSG Away

The European Champions are not the same team we faced in our last champions league campaign. They are more of a team and their performance against Inter Milan in the Final was ultra impressive. It looked like they were going to complete a world/European double before they were humbled by Chelsea in that Final. I don’t think we can read too much into the world club cup and PSG will be toughest of our fixtures on paper. They have won 8 out of the last 10 Ligue 1s to continue their dominance in France and as I write this, they have won both of their 1^st League games by a 1-0.

Barcelona Home

Even with PSG as the European Champions the standout game for me is at home to Barcelona. The Atmosphere will be incredible, there are links with Sir Bobby, memories of Tino Asprillia’s hat trick just to mention a few things. I cannot wait for that game whenever it falls, and it will be a massive occasion. Barcelona won La Liga last season and scored over 100 goals in doing so.

A Bilbao Home

Bilbao are side that are making slow and steady progress when you look at their league positions. Their last 5 seasons they have finished 10^th, 8^th, 8^th, 5^th and then last season 4^th to qualify for this season’s champions League. Inaki and Nico Willimams will offer a clear threat up front for them when they come to St James Park.

Marseille Away

When we drew Marseille, I instantly had the awful flashback of being put out of the old UEFA Cup by a certain Didier Drogba. Last season they finished a distant 2^nd behind PSG in the league, and they host a few players with premier League history. The midfield battle for this game will be interesting one with some strong experience in their lineup.

Bayer Leverkusen Away

Bayer Leverkusen is a fixture I was hoping for. I have a bit of a soft spot for them because of a very enjoyable save on Football manager with them. They had that ultra impressive season, the season before last only losing the Europa League final and being undefeated in the rest. Their squad has been dismantled a bit since then but will be a tough away fixture and one I’m looking forward to seeing unfold. We played Leverkusen twice when the champions League had 2 group stages and were able to bear them 3-1 on both occasions. They finished a distant 2^nd behind Bayern last season.

Benfica Home

Other than PSG, Benfica are the team we have played most recently in a 2-legged defeat during the 12/13 season. They are Champions League Regulars but for me they come under the should win category as we play them at home. They have a couple of players that might be familiar to people who play football manager regularly in Florentino Luis in midfield and Schjelderup in the forward positions as well as a highly thought of Antonio Silva in defence. Benfica finished 2^nd in the league last season behind Sporting CP.

PSV Home

Like Benfica I have put PSV in the should be winning category as we play them at home. That isn’t to say I completely underestimate them I just feel that we should be strong enough to beat them at St James Park. They won the Eredivisie last season scoring 103 goals and have a blend of attacking options in their ranks with the experience of Plea and Perisic but also young Ruben Van Bommel and Esmir Bajraktarevic who have scored 4 goals this season already between them.

Union Saint-Gilloise Away

A team that is a little unknown but a very interesting addition to our Champions League Campaign. The 1^st thing to mention is that they cannot host European ties at their own stadium so will play their Champions games at Anderlecht’s Lotto Park.

The other thing to mention is that similar to the Scottish League, Belgium have a league split which last season created something extremely interesting from what I can see looking at the table.

Union SG finished 3^rd in the main league phase 13 points behind Genk after 30 games. Then in the championship group they had an incredible end to the season getting 28 points from a possible 30 and winning the Jupiler Pro League title.

We have never played Union SG in a competitive match before so will be a 1^st.  

Obviously, there are so many things that will impact the season on a game-to-game basis, but you can clearly see there could be some interesting dynamics with the Fixtures.

Matchday	Fixture	Game Before	Game after
1-Thu 18th November	Barcelona H	Wolves H	Bournemouth A
I was very surprised to see the Thursday fixture and that will result in the Bournemouth and Bradford game getting moved and expect to see some interesting rotation that week. Barcelona being the 1st game gives us the best chance of getting a result against and the Thursday night atmosphere will be even better than the PSG game.
2-Wed 1st October	Union SG A	Arsenal H	N Forest H
Initially I put us down for a point here, but now looking into there last season and how the fixtures have fallen we have to win here.
3-Tue 21st October	Benfica H	Brighton A	Fulham H
Brighton seems to always be a nightmare fixture for us so that being after the international break followed by a home CL tie is a positive thing.
4-Wed 5th November	A Bilbao H	West Ham A	Brentford A
I was worried that this may have been a 3 away game week so having another home CL tie in the middle was a welcome sight. West Ham and Brentford are going to struggle this season in my opinion, and I think at least one of them will have a new manager by then.
5-Tue 25th November	Marseille A	Man City H	Everton A
This looks a tough week on paper and follows an international break. By this point in the season, we will be able to analyse our opponents league form a bit more.
6-Wed 10th December	B Leverkusen A	Burnley H	Sunderland A
In my opinion this is one of the worst fixtures we could have had before the derby. If we have beaten Burnley that week and then get a result in Germany momentum will be on our side. “What do you want for Christmas?” Can I have qualified in the CL by Christmas and a win over the Mackem’s please.
7-Wed 21st January	PSV H	Wolves A	A Villa H
This is the fixture where I hope our CL fate has been decided. If a win here guarantees us top 8 or top 24 then we have done our jobs well. From a personal side of things my birthday the day before so if I break my ballot streak then this will be the game to do it.
8-Wed 28th January	PSG A	Villa H	Liverpool A
This week is going to be a crazy week on paper. We cannot be going to PSG needing something to stay in the Champions League. If we go there needing a win to qualify in the top 8 then brilliant but not for Champions League survival. Liverpool Away just before a deadline day again as well.

Having 3 of our first 4 games at home gives us a great platform to qualify for at least for the play off round. I think we must be looking for 7-9 points from those first 4. The order of games has been kind to us but that doesn’t take away the difficulty of our set of fixtures. Momentum and league form will all intertwine.

Every fan of English football knows the sheer volume of games that the teams in Europe must contend with and looking forward between the end of the November international break and the start of the March international break we will play between 25-35 games depending on which competitions we are in and if we qualify as top 8 in the champions league or top 24.

Cannot wait for the Champions League to start with the fixtures as they are. I can only try my luck with Ballots when I am able to and hope to get to a game but even watching from a distance will feel the passion, feel the atmosphere and hope we can go deep into the campaign.

Howay The Lads

Matt