Newcastle United’s next Champions League opponents Bayer Leverkusen come into the tie on the back of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of FC Augsburg at the weekend.

Leverkusen’s defeat at the WWK Arena was a blow for manager Kasper Hjulmand and his squad, after they had gone into the game on a high after beating Borussia Dortmund to strengthen their position in the Bundesliga.

However, goals from Dimitrios Giannoulis and Anton Kade gave the home side a half-time lead which they held on to despite Leverkusen pressure in the second period.

Nathan Tella came off the bench in the 61st minute to attempt to get his side back in the game but the ex-Southampton attacker missed a chance to pull a goal back in the 75th minute when he somehow missed a gaping goal.

The day went from bad to worse for Tella as he was involved in an altercation two minutes later. Augsburg midfielder Kristijan Jakic putting his arm in the face of Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman, sparking a scuffle as the situation turned into ‘chaos’ according to German media reports. In the heat of the moment, Jakic shoved Tella, who quickly lost his temper and appeared on the verge of retaliation.

Nathan Tella and Robert AndrichCaptain Robert Andrich was forced to dive in and pulled away his teammate and loudly gave him instructions, fiercely shoving him in the process.

Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes defended his skipper’s actions, telling Bild: “I also did that as captain and pulled teammates away from the fray to save them from doing something stupid.”

Leverkusen team news

The home side have a doubt over attacking wing-back Alejandro Grimaldo. The Spain international was missing from the starting line-up against Augsburg.

Grimaldo has been nursing an injury since the last international break, but was still able to play the last four games, before sitting out the Augsburg defeat.

“After the last international break he came back with a minor issue,” Hjulmand said after the game

“He is not injured. We pushed Grimaldo very hard so that he could play, but he was carrying a knock. We tried in training, but it wasn’t possible for him to play. We hope he can play on Wednesday against Newcastle, but we don’t know yet.”

Exequiel Palacios remains sidelined until the new year with a muscle tendon problem in his right adductor which required surgery, while fellow midfielder Ezequiel Fernandez is out with a knee ligament injury.

Leverkusen’s form

Newcastle will have to be at their best if they are to get a result in Germany. While Leverkusen lost against Augsburg, they have enjoyed a strong start to the season.

Leverkusen sit fourth in the Bundesliga and since a defeat against runaway league leaders Bayern Munich at the start of November, they have won five of their last seven games. In that spell they defeated Dortmund in the cup and also enjoyed Champions League wins over Benfica and Manchester City.

The win against City in particular made people sit up and take notice. Pep Guardiola put out a weakened side at the Etihad Stadium but it was still a fine win, with Grimaldo and top goalscorer Patrik Schick on target.