Marseille Vs Newcastle United: The Magpies Hunt For Fourth Victory On The European Stage

Harvey Barnes, lit up with Newcastle United (photo: x @nufc)

JAKARTA - Marseille and Newcastle United will face each other for the first time in the Champions League when the two meet in a league phase match at Orange Velodrome, Tuesday, November 25 local time. The Magpies came confidently after recording three consecutive wins in this competition, while the hosts were threatened with a third successive defeat on the European stage.

In the middle of the 2025'26 Champions League league phase, Newcastle showed their capacity as potential participants in the round of 16. After a narrow loss to Barcelona in the opening match, Eddie Howe's squad came back with nine full points in the next three matches against Union SG, Benfica, and Athletic Bilbao.

Not only that, Newcastle also scored nine goals without even conceding the winning streak. On the fourth matchday, they took advantage of the injury problem that hit Athletic Bilbao and won 2-0 thanks to goals from Dan Burn and Joelinton.

If the league phase ends today, Newcastle's sixth position in the standings is enough to bring them automatically to the round of 16. Victory at Velodrome will at the same time make a new history: four straight wins in the Champions League for the first time.

Last weekend's 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Premier League was a valuable asset. However, their away performance in the league still needs to be improved because they lost the last three matches at the opponent's headquarters.

In contrast, Marseille is still mired in the Champions League. Roberto De Zerbi's side have only won one victory from four matches, namely at home to Ajax. The other three matches ended in defeat, including a painful 0-1 defeat to Atalanta due to Lazar Samardzic's 89th minute goal.

Marseille are now in 25th position in the Champions League standings. But their domestic performance is improving. Les Olympiens won 3-0 over Brest before the international break and slaughtered Nice 5-1 last weekend. Mason Greenwood performed brilliantly by reaching double digits in Ligue 1.

Marseille are now determined to end their negative trend against the English club. They never won in the last 12 meetings against the British representatives in the UEFA competition. However, they had sweet memories when they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the 2003 04 UEFA Cup semifinals thanks to Didier Drogba's two goals.

In the Newcastle camp, Lewis Hall was pulled out against Man City due to cramps. But the condition is not worrying. And Burn's return from suspension made Howe more flexible. Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier are also not certain to miss.

On the other hand, Will Osula, Yoane Wissa, and Harrison Ashby certainly cannot perform. Joelinton also has to be careful because if he gets a yellow card, he will miss the next match against Bayer Leverkusen.

For Marseille, Emerson Palmieri has returned from suspension, but Benjamin Pavard and Nayef Aguerd face suspension if they receive a yellow card. Aguerd himself is still doubtful due to a thigh injury, while Hamed Traore, Amir Murillo and Amine Gouuri are also absent due to injury.

The front trio of Greenwood, Igor Paixao, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are likely to remain the main choice. Aubameyang impressed in the last match with one goal and two assists.

The Champions League is an escape for Newcastle amid their inconsistency in the Premier League, while Marseille is actually struggling with an injury storm. Although the atmosphere of Velodrome is well known as angker, player fitness seems to be a factor that Newcastle will seem to be using to achieve a fourth straight win in Europe.

Marseille (4-2-3-1): Rulli; Weah, Pavard, Balerdi, Emerson; Kondogbia, Hojbjerg; Greenwood, Gomes, Paixao; Aubameyang

Newcastle United (4-3-3):Pope; Livramento, Botman, Thiaw, Burn; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes

Marseille 1.2 Newcastle United