Yes, it was only pre-season and Celtic are much further down the track than Newcastle United in their preparations for the new campaign. The game at Parkhead was their fifth of the season while the Magpies had flown in off the back of an intense week in Austria at a training camp.

Newcastle United began their preseason campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Celtic, as Kieran Tierney made his long-awaited return at Celtic Park.

In front of 10,000 away fans in Celtic Park, the Magpies were 2-0 down at half-time before Eddie Howe introduced new signing Anthony Elanga for his first appearance as one of nine half-time changes.

Celtic put Newcastle United to the sword at Celtic Park today, winning 4-0 to lift the inaugural adidas Trophy. Brendan Rodgers' side started the match well and had a big chance with 13 minutes gone when Yang fired a ball into the box from the right wing which reached Engels, but he mistimed his shot and it was bundled behind for a Celtic corner.

Arne Engels opened the scoring with a 28th-minute penalty before Johnny Kenny doubled Celtic's lead, latching onto a long ball that was misjudged by Pope, presenting a clear path through to an open go

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised Newcastle United’s ‘incredible’ support at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon.

It was supposed to be a summer of refinement, not restructuring, for Newcastle United. Yet as Eddie Howe returned from holiday to discover that sporting director Paul Mitchell had departed unexpectedly, the plans laid out for a smooth and assertive transfer window quickly began to unravel.

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe said he is confident that striker Alexander Isak will be at the Premier League club at the start of the 2025-26 season, after leaving the Swede out of their 4-0 friendly loss to Celtic due to transfer talk.