Hansi Flick appears to be playing mind games with Newcastle United ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League visit.
With the clash just two days away, fans are getting a serious case of Champions League fever, with Europe’s premier competition returning to Tyneside.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side welcome Spanish giants Barcelona to St James’ Park on Thursday in what could be a memorable night on Tyneside if proceedings go their way.
However, this Barca side has turned over a new leaf with Hansi Flick, who brought La Liga back to Catalonia after Real Madrid’s recent success. Newcastle are without Yoane Wissa and Jacob Ramsey for the game, but Barca’s problems appear to be much worse.
It has been confirmed that Gavi and Alejandro Balde will miss the Newcastle game. Meanwhile, the attention has been on whether Lamine Yamal will be fit to play.
While that has all been going on, a new report from Spain has shared an interesting call made by Flick regarding one of his defenders.
Ronald Araujo looks on before a La Liga game between Raya Vallecano and Barcelona.
Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Ronald Araujo was intentionally rested for Barcelona ahead of Newcastle United clash
Newcastle will have a lot of confidence following their 1-0 win against Wolves on Saturday, and will know too well that they will have the backing of over 52,000 fans at St James’ Park when Barca come to town.
Barca come into the game with a lot of confidence too, having beaten Valencia 6-0 at home on Sunday. It appears that Flick did not even have to play a full-strength squad for that game. According to Diario Sport, Flick chose to keep defender Ronald Araujo on the bench for the game to keep him prepared for the game against Newcastle.
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The report adds that Flick sees Araujo as the secret weapon to deal with the lingering threat of Nick Woltemade, who scored on his debut against Wolves.
Additionally, it is believed that Flick has marked the Newcastle game on his calendar, aware that it will be an incredibly tough 90 minutes for his side.
In his press conference on Sunday, Flick was excited to visit St James’ Park, but he and his team have another thing coming.
Two former Newcastle United targets could replace Lamine Yamal
The big news to come out of Barca this week is that Yamal is set to miss the Newcastle trip with a groin issue.
Raphinha is the most likely replacement for Yamal against Newcastle, having scored twice off the bench. However, the Brazilian was dropped for that game due to a disciplinary issue.
Young Swedish winger Roony Bardghji started in his place, but failed to make any real impact on the game.
Coincidentally, both players have been linked with moves to Tyneside in the past. Reports before his Barca move suggested that Raphinha was Howe’s ‘dream’ signing. It is unknown whether talks were ever held for the winger, but a transfer fee of £55m was thrown around for a time.
Elsewhere, Newcastle were linked with a move for Bardghji earlier this year. The youngster, known as the Swedish Lionel Messi, terminated his contract with Copenhagen to force a move elsewhere, and subsequently ended up at Barca.