With the season heading into its final months, games are coming thick and fast, especially for the Premier League clubs still in Europe. With the extra games, travelling, time difference and the added disadvantage when teams return to face an away game in the Premier League, player welfare is another problem for managers of those teams. Out of the teams in action this week, Newcastle have had the longest journey. Their 2,529-mile trek to Baku is the furthest distance ever travelled by an English side in the Champions League. Irrespective of what we tried, having to play an away game that same weekend was really tough, and we suffered a couple of heavy Premier League defeats afterwards.

Source: BBC February 20, 2026 08:40 UTC