You can say what you like about how well this Newcastle United side is currently peforming, but one thing no one can argue with is that their position in the Champions League table is a rosy one.

Wednesday night's 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao leaves Eddie Howe's men in sixth place in the standings at the halfway stage of this round, with Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona and Chelsea all below them in the rankings.

Perhaps the tougher challenges are still to come for United, but they have put themselves in an excellent position to achieve their goal of making the knockout stages for the first time in their history.

Newcastle have already banked €24.9m in this season's competition, with each win earning €2.1m on top of the €18.6m every side receives for qualifying for the group stage.

Making the last 16 will bring yet more riches, as well as helping to raise the club's profile when it comes to attracting top-level transfer targets to Tyneside.