Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur reached the end of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) journeys on Wednesday night.
Here, we take a look at the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) learnings from their Round of 16 second legs.
RESULT
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | Barcelona (a) | 2-7 loss | Elanga (x2) | Hall, Barnes |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Atletico Madrid (h) | 3-2 win | Kolo Muani, Xavi (x2, inc pen) | Tel, Gray |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | Changes from GW30 | Players who kept their places (+ mins) | Other notable players (+ mins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | 5 | Thiaw (90), Barnes (90), Ramsey (90), Hall (90), Ramsdale (90), Gordon (81) | Burn (90), Elanga (64), Tonali (55), Trippier (45), Livramento (45), Murphy (26) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | Vicario (90), Spence (90), Sarr (90), Tel (81), Gray (81), Porro (74), Dragusin (66) | Xavi (90), Kolo Muani (90), van de ven (90), Romero (81), Udogie (24), Gallagher (9) |
DEFENSIVE DISASTER CLASS
Having rested his experienced defensive heads for the 1-0 weekend win at Chelsea, Eddie Howe was hoping Dan Burn (£5.0m) and Kieran Trippier (£5.0m) would help strengthen Newcastle’s backline.
Unfortunately, this proved to be wishful thinking as his defence disintegrated for one of world football’s most potent attacks.
Trippier’s final contribution was to concede a needless penalty that gave Barcelona a 3-2 lead in first-half stoppage time. But the 35-year-old was not the only culprit. Lewis Hall (£5.3m) and Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) both slipped over in the build-up to Raphinha’s opener, while the marking at a set-piece for Marc Bernal’s second was abject.
Trippier’s replacement, Tino Livramento (£4.9m), didn’t fare much better. He was easily beaten to a header at the far post by Robert Lewandowski for the fifth goal. Thiaw then failed to intercept Lamine Yamal’s pass for Lewandowski’s second strike, and further kamikaze defending was Jacob Ramsey’s (£5.3m) penalty area giveaway for the seventh.
For Howe, the frustration is that, for three quarters of this tie, they were equal and arguably better than Barca. But the quick-fire conceding of four goals was symptomatic of the soft underbelly that has undermined their season.
“The final scoreline wasn’t reflective of how we have played across the tie. Or what the players and fans have experienced. The Champions League is where we want to be. Our fans were terrific tonight and there was a real bond between them and the players.” – Eddie Howe on the scoreline
“A tough way to go out. It is really strange to try and sum that up because first half I thought we were excellent, albeit without defending the key moments well enough. In the second half, nowhere near as good as we were in the first and as a result Barcelona deservedly go through.
“There was a dip in our performance after half-time and I don’t think we defended well enough in the build-up to their penalty. We should have been going in full of energy and enthusiasm after the first half at 2-2. Psychologically, it was a tough one for the lads. The penalty right before half-time and scored quite quickly after half-time and psychologically, we didn’t recover.” – Eddie Howe on the collapse
Of course, Newcastle won’t have to face Barcelona every week. But this capitulation will do little for the confidence of a defence that, across all competitions, has kept only one clean sheet in 17.
It could also put FPL managers off defensive assets even in Gameweek 31, although some of their backline offer alternative routes to points. No defender has scored more goals (four) or had more big chances (nine) than Thiaw, who has also delivered DefCon points in four of the last five Gameweeks.
TONALI INJURY
A miserable night for Newcastle was compounded by a 56th-minute injury to Sandro Tonali (£5.3m). In the absence of Bruno Guimaraes (£6.8m), the Italy international has been the Magpies’ most important player, so his probable Tyne-Wear derby absence brings more bad news.
“Yeah, I’d say he’s a doubt. It looks like he’s got a groin, sort of hip problem. I thought he performed really well in the first half and we really missed him in that second period.” – Eddie Howe on Sandro Tonali’s injury
🚨 Italian media claim Sandro Tonali will undergo an MRI scan today.
A suspected fascia lata (upper thigh) injury – the severity of which is unknown. Gattuso reportedly already considering alternatives for Italy squad.
You would imagine it is now likely he will miss the…
— Charlie Bennett (@CharIieBennett) March 19, 2026
GORDON QUIET
On the plus side, Newcastle scored twice from eight shots, thanks to lightning left-sided by Hall and Harvey Barnes (£6.1m). There were a couple of rare clinical finishes from Anthony Elanga (£6.5m), but the quiet Anthony Gordon (£7.3m) couldn’t muster a single shot on target.
Playing up front of late, the FPL midfielder has scored back-to-back league goals, takes penalties and is about to be at home to out-of-form Sunderland. But can Gordon and an injury-ravaged Newcastle pick themselves up after this big defeat?
Howe believes so. Seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, they still have European qualification to play for, which should encourage FPL managers. And let’s not forget that Gordon has inspired recent wins over Manchester United and Chelsea.
“We have a massive game on Sunday and so no time to dwell or feel sorry for ourselves. Huge game for our city and club, we need to focus on that. It’s a good game for us to go straight into because there’s no time for any other thought. We have got to play like our lives depend on it.” – Eddie Howe on the Tyne-Wear derby this weekend
RAY OF HOPE FOR SPURS?
Elsewhere, after last week’s disastrous defeat in Madrid, Spurs were expected to experience more misery against Atletico Madrid. But they deservedly won, providing hope for Premier League survival. Perhaps it will have FPL managers asking if their players are suddenly worth owning.
Despite the absence of a suspended Richarlison (£6.3m) and an injured Dominic Solanke, Igor Tudor persevered with a 4-4-2.
One of the front two was Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m), who gave them the best possible start by converting Mathys Tel’s (£6.2m) cross.
Had the latter finished a one-on-one with goalkeeper Juan Musso after a sweeping one-touch move, Atletico might have folded. Unfortunately for Spurs, it was the save, soon followed by an equaliser from Julian Alvarez.
Undeterred, Spurs threw the kitchen sink at their visitors in a spirited second-half display. Xavi Simons‘ (£6.5m) lively showing brought a superb, curling strike, before Radu Dragusin (£4.5m) and Pedro Porro (£5.1m) were both thwarted by Musso.
But falling asleep at a corner allowed David Hancko to make it 2-2 and, although Simons struck again from the penalty spot, Tottenham ran out of time to complete a miraculous comeback.
SIMONS SUBLIME, DEFENSIVE QUESTION MARKS REMAIN
This was, by far, Spurs’ best performance under Tudor and suggests that the green shoots of recovery first detected in their 1-1 draw at Liverpool may be fully sprouting from the dirt.
Simons was at the heart of the team’s best work; a display characterised by energy, fight and front-footed football. The Dutchman took his first goal beautifully, held his nerve to net a late penalty, had a total of four shots on goal and made five key passes.
It was a display that warrants a starting place against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 31.
Spurs’ defence was still not brilliant, even with Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) reunited. The latter struggled to stay on his feet and missed a crucial interception before Alvarez’s goal, but Romero did at least put in a captain’s performance with some typical last-ditch defending.
So, despite the big strides made in the last two matches, you’d still expect Forest assets like Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.4m) to get chances.
SOLANKE + OTHER UPDATES
Tudor said afterwards that Solanke is expected to return for Sunday’s relegation six-pointer.
“He has some problem with the hip. It is no big deal… I think he will be good for Sunday.” – Igor Tudor on Dominic Solanke
Elsewhere, Spurs also had three players on the bench who couldn’t offer anything other than cameos.
“Today we had 11 players and, on the bench [Lucas] Bergvall, [Destiny] Udogie and Conor [Gallagher]. The doctors said they could only play 20 minutes. That makes the value of this performance even better. It was nice to take the victory and important for morale.” – Igor Tudor explains the Conor Gallagher benching
