Newcastle have made the 2,500-mile journey from Newcastle to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku for this week’s opening leg at the Tofiq Bahramov Republic Stadium.
While The Magpies ended the league phase with a respectable 1–1 draw away against Paris Saint-Germain, it was not enough to secure a place in the next round.
A spot against either Barcelona or Chelsea now awaits them in the last 16 if they can bypass Qarabag who had never secured three points in the competition in their history until defeating Benfica in a comeback 3-2 victory in September.
Newcastle may find the clash tougher than expected, however, as they miss Emil Krafth (knee), Fabian Schar (ankle / foot), Valentino Livramento (thigh), Sven Botman (lower back) in defence as manager Eddie Howe rotates his side.
Further up the pitch, Howe will rely on the likes of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga to fill in for the likes of Lewis Miley (thigh), Bruno Guimaraes (knee) and Yoane Wissa (other) who will be absent for the clash.
Qarabag have scored two goals or more on home soil in Europe and will hope to snag a result against Howe’s side, who have failed to keep a clean sheet in seven consecutive matches across all competitions.