Newcastle reached the 116th Champions League final with a 9-3 win on aggregate.

Newcastle United secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League by beating them 3-2 at St James' Park on Tuesday and winning on aggregate by a scoreline 9:3.

The outcome was never in doubt after Newcastle crushed Qarabag 6-1 in the first leg of the play-offs in Baku last week, but expectations of a second goal streak were short-lived after a promising started, writes xrust.

Newcastle took a 2-0 lead after just six minutes as the fans went wild with Sandro Tonali scoring two goals within 80 seconds of each other in the fourth minute and Joelinton volleying in the sixth.

Unlike Baku, where Newcastle was already leading 5:0 at the break, the Magpies relaxed and allowed Qarabag to return to the game, and the expected defeat in the second match did not happen.

Camilo Duran pulled one back for the visitors in the 50th minute, but Newcastle responded immediately: Sven Botman scored his first Champions League goal two minutes later, heading in a Kieran Trippier corner.

In the 54th minute, head coach Eddie Howe brought on Anthony Gordon, the hero of the first match, who scored four goals, instead of Joelinton with the score 3:1, but this substitution had little effect on the result.

Three minutes later the score was 3-2 when Alvin Jafarguliyev scored with a left-footed shot after Aaron Ramsdale saved a penalty against Marko Jankovic after Dan Byrne's handball.

“At 2-0 we probably slowed down, we didn't plan for it but it was a natural reaction,” Howe said.

“I think, if you look at the scores in the two matches, the players showed a fantastic game, although today’s victory seems a little empty for us.”

Newcastle will now face either Barcelona or Chelsea in the play-offs, the two teams they have faced in recent times. The draw will take place on Friday.

Barcelona beat St James' Park 2-1 in the Champions League last September, while Chelsea drew 2-2 in the Premier League in December.

“We really enjoyed the game against Barcelona and we also played well here against Chelsea. We haven't won any of those games so hopefully that's a good sign for us,” Howe said, adding that making the playoffs had been a goal since the start of the season.

On Tuesday, Newcastle won six victories in one Champions League season for the first time in history.

This will be their first participation in the playoffs, although in 2003 they reached the second group stage, in which 16 clubs then participated.

Xrust Newcastle reached the 116th Champions League final, winning 9:3 on aggregate