The teenager is a doubt for the clash on Tyneside but part of Eddie Howe wants the teenager to be involved
Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona
Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona
Eddie Howe says that Newcastle United players should not be daunted if Spanish wonderkid Lamine Yamal does end up on the Champions League team sheet on Thursday night.
Yamal was ruled out of the weekend La Liga clash for Barca against Valencia, and is described as a doubt for the trip to St James' Park.
The Spain Euro 2024 winner's injury was described as "discomfort in his pubic bone" by Barca's press office on Saturday.
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But should the Barcelona ace line up on Tyneside, Howe will relish the task in front of his team, and when asked about the 18-year-old said: "Whenever I get asked these types of questions my answer’s always the same – you want to play the best teams, you want to play against the best players, and you want to challenge yourselves as much as you can.
"But in saying that, we also want to win. We’ll take whoever they play.
"We know they’ve got world-class players in every position, so it’s irrelevant to a degree who is out there."
Barca boss Hansi Flick has slammed the Spanish national team for not looking after Yamal and playing him in two matches against Bulgaria and Turkey while carrying an injury.
Flick said: "Lamine goes to the national team with pain, didn't train, had painkillers to play, they were three goals ahead in every match, and he played 79 and 73 minutes.
"Between the matches he didn't train. This is not taking care of players. Spain have the best team in the world, in every position they are unbelievably good. I am really sad about this [situation]."
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