**Barcelona visit St James' Park on Thursday as Newcastle United begin their latest Champions League adventure.**
Once again, the Champions League draw hasn't exactly been kind to the Magpies in terms of the quality of opponents, but in a way, that's what we want.
We want to be challenged by the best and have the world's best players come to St James' Park.
On the flip side, those teams want to play us, too, it seems. Barcelona manager, Hansi Flick, told reporters last night that he is excited to see St James' Park.
Hansi Flick is impressed with what Newcastle are doing
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Barcelona will head to St James' Park on the back of a stunning 6-0 win over Valencia, which is less than ideal for Newcastle. Speaking after the game, Flick told reporters he followed Newcastle last season and was impressed (via [Newcastle World](https://www.newcastleworld.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-united-news-barcelona-champions-league-5317116)).
> "Last season we didn't play in England, and now this is good for us.
>
> “Newcastle's stadium is a beautiful stadium and I followed them last season. They're doing well. Their technical staff is performing well, and I'm looking forward to working with them."
Former Newcastle targets were on the scoresheet for Barca last night
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Three players scored a brace each for Barcelona last night, and all three have Newcastle connections. Fermin Lopez and Raphinha have both been linked with moves to Newcastle, while Robert Lewandowski has recently [admitted to sporting a Newcastle top growing up.](https://nufcfeed.com/i-wore-it-a-lot-robert-lewandowski-admits-he-used-to-have-a-newcastle-united-shirt-ahead-of-st-james-park-visit-on-thursday-1568740)
Raphinha was on the bench for the start of the game last night after showing up late to training, and another former alleged Newcastle target, Rooney Bardghji, made his Barcelona debut after his bargain summer move.
It seems like a few Barca players may feel they have a point to prove that they're where they should be. That could be dangerous on Thursday.
Thankfully, it's at St James' Park, and the Toon Army will more than make up for any personal points.