Passports ready for Magpies' latest European adventures

NEWCASTLE United fans will be digging out their passports this summer in anticipation of the welcome return next season of European football.

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Despite the fleeting anticlimax of that last-day home defeat to Everton, United did enough over the course of the 38-game Premier League season to finish in fifth place with the money-spinning prize being a place in the 2025-26 Champions League.

Added to the club winning its first domestic silverware in 70 years, in the shape of the Carabao Cup, it marked the conclusion to the most successful campaign at St James’ Park in living memory.

All eyes will be on the Champions League draw which takes place on August 28, with the first games kicking off on September 16, 17 and 18. The competition's updated format means United will play eight games - four at home and four away against different opponents - in the league phase, before hopefully progressing to the knock-out stage.

A glance at the four probable pots of 36 teams involved in the competition offers the promise of some real glamour ties under the midweek lights at St James’ and on foreign fields. The heavyweights of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain are all possible opponents from pot one.