Top 20 revealed 

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Newcastle’s progression through the Champions League on Tuesday night was hardly surprising, but it was undoubtedly historic. Eddie Howe’s side overcame Qarabağ 3-2 at St James’s Park to win their knock-out tie against the Azerbaijani club 9-3 on aggregate and progress to the Round of 16. While that was largely expected, due to the Premier League side having a squad that was worth €683 million more than their opponents on the night, it was also the first time that the Geordie club have reached the Round of 16 in Europe’s premier tournament. So, where do Newcastle now rank among all British clubs for their record in what was once the European Cup and is now the Champions League? Using Transfermarkt’s database, we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 most successful clubs in the prestigious competition.

As we can see when we take a look at the British clubs ranked 20th to 11th in terms of the most points won in Champions League history, Newcastle now rank 11th in the standings with 48 points from 34 games in the tournament. Nottingham Forest, despite playing only 20 matches, boast an impressive 60% win rate and sit just behind on 40 points. Derby County and Aberdeen follow with 20 and 19 points respectively, while Leicester City have collected 17 points from 10 matches with a 50% win percentage. Further down the standings, Dundee United and Dundee both record strong 63% win rates from eight matches, earning 16 and 15 points respectively. Everton have managed 11 points from eight matches with a 25% win rate. Hibernian have 10 points from six matches, winning half of their games, while Ipswich Town round out the top 20 with nine points from just four matches, but curiously registering the highest win percentage in this group at 75%.

So how close are Newcastle to breaking into the top 10? Well, according to Transfermarkt records Aston Villa claim tenth on our list with 55 points from 27 games in the tournament. Which means that Howe’s side are only seven points off their Birmingham rivals and could break into the top 10 if they reach the latter stages of this season’s competition. Above Villa are Leeds United in ninth place with 66 points and a win ratio of 53%, followed by Tottenham in eighth with a sizable 111 points from 69 games. The Glasgow giants Rangers and Celtic then claim sixth and fifth spot in the historical rankings, with 160 points and 224 points respectively.

To break into the top five clubs will need at least 269 points, which is how many Manchester City have won in 145 games over the course of the European Cup’s history. However, despite the success of Pep Guardiola’s side over the last 10 years, they still sit 102 points behind Chelsea, who enjoy a win rate of 52% after 205 games in the tournament. Just slightly above their London rivals by just five points are Arsenal, who sneak into the top three with 376 points from 219 games and will be hoping to add to that this season if they can get past Bayern Munich in the next round.

To no great surprise, as six-time winners of the tournament, Liverpool sit very comfortably in second place with a historic score of 474 points from 248 games, which works out at a win ratio of 57% and places them no less than 98 points above Arsenal in third. However, if anything can dampen the spirits of the Anfield faithful, it is the fact that they still sit behind historic rivals Manchester United, who have won 528 points from 289 games in their entire history. Which means the Old Trafford club hold an impressive 54-point lead over the rest of British football, despite only featuring in the competition five times in the last 10 seasons.