Newcastle United cruised into the Champions League Round of 16 with a 9-3 aggregate win over Qarabağ, setting up a potential clash against Barcelona or Chelsea.
Newcastle United officially booked their place in the Champions League Round of 16 after a 3-2 second-leg victory over Qarabağ FK, completing a dominant 9-3 aggregate win.
Job done ☑️
We progress into the @ChampionsLeague Round of 16! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/exyIlDTqCX
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 24, 2026
While the visitors showed plenty of heart at St James’ Park, they were ultimately outclassed by Newcastle as they left the competition with a new record: the most goals conceded in a single UCL campaign (30) since the 1992 rebranding.
For Eddie Howe, it was a professional job that allowed him to rotate his squad while keeping their European momentum firmly on track.
With a massive 6-1 lead from the first leg, Howe took the opportunity to experiment, handing 21-year-old Alex Murphy his first start as part of seven changes. Despite the fresh faces and the 2-1 loss to Manchester City just days prior, Newcastle looked like a team that hadn’t missed a beat. They started with a ferocity that suggested they wanted the tie finished before the ten-minute mark, a goal they achieved with clinical efficiency.
The scoring opened within six minutes when Sandro Tonali steered home his first-ever Champions League goal, following a brilliant save on a William Osula header. Just 80 seconds later, the stadium was erupting again as Harvey Barnes picked out Joelinton, who smashed a volley into the roof of the net for his sixth of the season. At 2-0 on the night and 8-1 on aggregate, any lingering sense of jeopardy evaporated, leaving the crowd to enjoy what felt like a high-intensity training session.
To their credit, Qarabağ didn’t just roll over and wait for the whistle. Elvin Cafarguliyev forced Aaron Ramsdale into a sharp save near the half-hour mark, and the visitors began to find gaps in a rotated Newcastle defense.
Jacob Murphy, celebrating his 31st birthday, nearly added a third for the Magpies after a clever flick from Nick Woltemade, but it was the Azerbaijani side that eventually found a breakthrough early in the second half.
The visitors’ top scorer, Camilo Durán, showed a clean pair of heels to outpace Dan Burn before firing low past Ramsdale to make it 2-1 on the night. However, Newcastle’s response was almost instantaneous. Within sixty seconds, Kieran Trippier delivered one of his trademark outswinging corners, which Sven Botman met with a thumping header. It was Botman’s first-ever UCL goal, restoring the two-goal cushion and quashing any hopes of a spirited Qarabağ comeback.
The drama wasn’t over, as a Dan Burn handball gifted the visitors a penalty. While Ramsdale initially saved Marko Janković’s spot-kick, Cafarguliyev was quickest to the rebound to pull another goal back. The match nearly equaled the record for the most total goals in a UCL knockout tie, currently sitting at 13, as both sides traded chances in the closing stages. Even the introduction of first-leg hero Anthony Gordon couldn’t add further gloss to the scoreline, but the job was already well and truly done.
Newcastle can now look forward to a mouth-watering Round of 16 clash against either Barcelona or Chelsea. This victory marks their fourth successive home win in the competition and matches their all-time record for wins in a single Champions League season.
