After a 20-year absence, the Magpies return to the prestigious competition this season after claiming an impressive fourth-placed finish during the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

Eddie Howe’s side will be placed in Pot 4 ahead of Thursday’s highly-anticipated draw in Monaco, which is due to begin from 5pm (BST), and are set to face a team from Pot One, Two and Three (excluding English clubs).

The top two teams in each group will advance to the round of 16 whereas the third-placed sides will transfer to the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will take on the Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16.

Newcastle have competed in the world’s greatest club competition on two occasions before - the first in 1997/98 in which they claimed a famous 3-2 win against Barcelona at St. James’ Park, courtesy of Faustino Asprilla’s hat-trick, before their second campaign in 2002/03 included a memorable 1-0 win against Juventus and a 2-2 draw against Inter Milan, backed by around 12,000 away supporters at the San Siro.

United, who won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, last played in European competition a decade ago as the Magpies ventured to the Europa League quarter-finals before losing over two legs to Portuguese giants Benfica.

The Champions League final will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium on 1 June 2024.

Pot 1: Manchester City, Sevilla, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Feyenoord.

Pot 2: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, RB Leipzig, FC Porto, Arsenal.

Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Salzburg, AC Milan, SC Braga, PSV Eindhoven, Lazio, Crvena Zvezda, F.C Copenhagen.

Pot 4: Young Boys, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, Celtic, Newcastle United, FC Union Berlin, Royal Antwerp, RC Lens.

Champions League group stage dates:

Matchday 1: 19/20 September 2023Matchday 2: 3/4 October 2023Matchday 3: 24/25 October 2023Matchday 4: 7/8 November 2023Matchday 5: 28/29 November 2023Matchday 6: 12/13 December 2023