Newcastle United's top five Champions League moments remembered

The Magpies have previously had three campaigns in Europe’s premier club competition – one of which ended at the preliminary-round stage – and here are their top five Champions League moments.

1 BELLAMY’S STOPPAGE-TIME STRIKE

Craig Bellamy celebrates after scoring against Feyenoord (Image: PA)

Back in the 2002-03 season, the Champions League had two group stages. Newcastle looked to be done and dusted when they lost their first three matches in the first, but wins over Juventus and Dynamo Kiev meant they headed into their final match at Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium knowing a victory would secure their progress if Juventus also win in Kiev.

The Magpies surged into a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Craig Bellamy and Hugo Viana, but two Feyenoord goals in the space of six second-half minutes tied the game up.

The die looked to be cast heading into stoppage time, but after Kieron Dyer’s shot was parried by the Feyenoord goalkeeper, Bellamy pounced on the rebound and squeezed the ball home from an acute angle. Juventus won 2-1 in Ukraine, and Newcastle were through.

2 ASPRILLA’S BARCA HAT-TRICK

Tino Asprilla celebrates after scoring against Barcelona (Image: PA)

Having come through a qualifier against Croatia Zagreb in the 1997-98 season, Newcastle’s first Champions League group-stage fixture pitted them against the mighty Barcelona at St James’ Park.

What happened next has gone done in Tyneside folklore, with Colombian forward Tino Asprilla scoring a hat-trick as the Spanish giants were beaten on Tyneside.

Asprilla scored his first goal from the penalty spot, and followed up with a thumping header from Keith Gillespie’s right-wing cross. When Gillespie crossed again early in the second half, Asprilla completed his hat-trick with another headed goal. Barcelona rallied, scoring through Luis Enrique and Luis Figo, but Kenny Dalglish’s Newcastle side held on to claim a memorable win.

3 SHEARER’S DOUBLE IN THE SAN SIRO

Alan Shearer scored twice against Inter Milan (Image: PA)

Having made it to the second group stage in the 2002-03 season, Newcastle suffered defeats against Inter Milan and Barcelona before doing the double over Bayer Leverkusen. Their fifth group game took them to the San Siro, with more than 12,000 Geordies travelling to Italy to roar them on against Inter Milan.

Alan Shearer opened the scoring towards the end of the first half, side-footing home from close range after Craig Bellamy slid the ball across the face of the six-yard box.

Christian Vieri equalised for Inter at the start of the second half, but Shearer restored Newcastle’s lead moments later as he stabbed home after Inter goalkeeper Francesco Toldo fumbled a cross from Laurent Robert. Ivan Cordoba headed home Inter’s equaliser on the hour mark, and Newcastle’s exit was confirmed when they lost at home to Barcelona in their final group game.

4 KETSBAIA SCORES IN CROATIA

Temuri Ketsbaia celebrates with Tino Asprilla (Image: PA)

Newcastle had to come through a qualifier against Croatia Zagreb to reach the group stage in their first Champions League campaign in 1997, and things went reasonably well when they won the first leg 2-1 at St James’ Park.

However, the return game in Zagreb proved a fraught occasion. Tino Asprilla’s penalty gave Newcastle a two-goal aggregate lead, but that was halved when Dario Simic scored just before the hour mark and eradicated entirely when Mario Cvitanovic made it 2-2 on aggregate in stoppage time.

The game went into extra-time, and appeared set for penalties when the clock ticked past the 119-minute mark, but there was still time for a dramatic denouement. David Batty intercepted a pass in the Croatian half, Asprilla laid the ball off, and Temuri Ketsbaia held his nerve to slot home a winner past Zagreb goalkeeper Drazen Ladic.

5 GRIFFIN DOWNS JUVENTUS

Andy Griffin in action against Juventus (Image: PA)

Having lost their first three matches of the opening group phase in 2002, Newcastle needed to win their fourth game at St James’ Park to keep their faint hopes of qualification alive. The task could not have been much harder, however, as they found themselves up against a Juventus side who had beaten them comfortably 2-0 in Turin a few weeks earlier.

In truth, the game was a somewhat scrappy encounter, with both sides struggling to carve out clear-cut chances. Even Newcastle’s 62nd-minute winner was a scruffy affair, but that didn’t matter to Andy Griffin, who was more than happy to claim it.

Laurent Robert played a quick free-kick to an overlapping Griffin, and when the full-back drove a cross-shot towards Nolberto Solano across the face of the goal, Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon deflected the ball into his own net in front of a euphoric Leazes End.