Newcastle United get their Champions League campaign underway against Catalan giants Barcelona in midweek, but their legendary striker Alan Shearer won't be at St James' Park for that match.
Newcastle United great Alan Shearer will miss their UCL opener.
Newcastle United great Alan Shearer will miss their UCL opener.(Image: Getty Images)
Alan Shearer will be forced to miss Newcastle United's Champions League opener against Barcelona because he will be mid-flight.
Eddie Howe's side have been handed a glittering first league phase fixture this season as they welcome the Catalan giants to St James' Park on Thursday night.
And given the magnitude of the game, a number of Newcastle icons are expected to attend.
However, Shearer - arguably the name most synonymous with the Magpies - won't have a ticket due to upcoming Premier League commitments in the USA.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer said: "Can you believe it? The fan fest that the Premier League do in the United States, this has been arranged for such a long time.
"I'm going to Kansas and my flight's on Thursday. Can you believe that? I'm going to miss the game. I can't believe it. Nightmare for me, unfortunately."
And while Shearer will be disappointed not to be at the game, another man who will also bemoan the ex-striker's absence is Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski.
The Poland captain recently admitted that he had a Newcastle shirt with Shearer on the back when he was a child.
"When I was young, I remember I had a Newcastle shirt with the No 9, Alan Shearer," he said.
"It was a gift from the family, and I wore it a lot because he was at the top back then. And. of course, I used to mimic his famous celebration; it was something unique."
Newcastle will certainly be aiming to get their latest Champions League campaign off to a positive start.
It is the first time that they will take part in the league stage having previously been eliminated from a group that contained Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan.
Newcastle, though, got off to a bright start in front of their home supporters as they thumped PSG 4-1 - Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar all finding the net.
The two sides will come together once more in the final fixture of the league stage at the Parc des Princes.
Away from Barcelona and PSG, Howe's side have also been drawn to face Union Saint-Gilloise, Benfica, Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Bayer Leverkusen in the league stage.
Speaking ahead of his team's clash with Barcelona, Howe said: "I think off the back of today, it's pure excitement [the feeling going into Barcelona].
"We want to deliver a really good performance, we want to learn from two years ago in the Champions League and all the things that we needed to put to use.
"I think we're a stronger team than we were two years ago, I think we've got much more experience through the group and hopefully that will show."
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