Champions League playoffs: Gordon scores four goals in first half as Newcastle routs Qarabag

By Canadian Press on February 18, 2026.

Anthony Gordon scored four goals in the first half as Newcastle routed Qarabag 6-1 in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday.

Newcastle was 5-0 up by halftime in Azerbaijan and, barring an unlikely collapse in the second leg at home next week, is cruising into the round of 16.

Gordon completed his hat trick in 33 minutes at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in Baku and got a fourth in first-half added time.

Malick Thiaw was also on target for the Premier League team, which had 16 shots in a rampant first half.

Elvin Jafarguliyev pulled one back for Qarabag, which has been one of the surprise stories of this season’s Champions League after qualifying for the playoffs. But Jacob Murphy’s deflected strike completed the rout for Newcastle, which will be the fifth English team in the last 16 if it advances.

Test for Inter

Inter Milan is facing a daunting trip to Bodø/Glimt later on Wednesday.

The tiny Norwegian team produced shock wins over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to make the playoffs.

Located north of the Arctic Circle — farther north than any team in Champions League history — the reward for its impressive run is a showdown with last year’s runner-up Inter, which leads the Italian league.

Club Bruges hosts Atletico Madrid and Olympiacos faces Bayer Leverkusen.

In Tuesday’s playoffs Paris Saint-Germain rallied from two goals down to beat Monaco 3-2 and Real Madrid defeat Benfica 1-0.

Galatasaray won 5-2 against Juventus and Borussia Dortmund beat Atalanta 2-0.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press

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