Despite somehow failing to score against Leicester on Monday evening, Newcastle finally secured their return to the upper echelons of European football next season, a full 20 years since their last appearance. In light of their confirmed top four status, we are rewinding the clocks and taking a look at the last Newcastle Champions League line-up, and how they fared in 2003’s edition of the tournament.
Newcastle Champions League Line-Up (2002/03)
Although the Newcastle side of the early noughties, led by the late, great Sir Bobby Robson, secured Champions League football in successive seasons, their most recent appearance saw them bow out in the third qualifying round of the 2003/04 season.
Therefore, we prefer to focus on their final line-up of the season prior, where they featured across 12 games in the then-two-stage group round.
After sailing through the first group stage with three wins from a possible six, including a memorable three points against eventual runners-up Juventus on match day three, the Magpies advanced to the second group stage at the beginning of 2003.
In what was the final year of this largely unpopular format, eight group winners and eight group runners-up were drawn into four groups, with Newcastle going up against Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in the second stage.
Although the firm favourites, Inter and Barca, were the eventual group qualifiers, Newcastle managed to register an impressive seven points in their first season in Europe’s elite competition.
This included a famous double against Bayer Leverkusen – the first leg in Germany seeing fan-favourite Shola Ameobi fire in a brace, before Alan Shearer went one better back on home soil, scoring a memorable hat-trick.
He also added another brace in a 2-2 stalemate at the San Siro a month later on the way to registering six goals in total. However, it wasn’t to be enough as a heavy defeat at home to Inter, as well as zero points across their two meetings with Barcelona eventually saw them finish four points adrift of qualification.
The thrill of the unknown made that campaign on the continent a special period in the rich tapestry of Newcastle United, and now 20 years later the Magpies faithful will embark on another European adventure.
Their final Champions League appearance to this day saw them slump to a disappointing defeat against a Barcelona side featuring the likes of Xavi, Juan Roman Riquelme and Patrick Kluivert.
Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Craig Bellamy, Titus Bramble. These are the names that are still etched into the memories of Geordies, who have been longing, yearning for a return to club football’s most prestigious competition.
And so, this latest generation – Callum Wilson, Nick Pope, Kieran Tripper, Sven Botman – will try to better what Newcastle have only experienced twice before.
Strap in, St James’ Park.
Related Football Content
- Football Betting Tips 2023 – Latest Picks & Football Tips
- Football Predictions May 2023
- Football Accumulator Tips 2023 – Latest Acca Betting Tips
- Best Correct Score Tipsters on Telegram & Social Media 2023
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
