Newcastle United take on Barcelona nearly 28 years on from Tino Asprilla’s famous hat-trick against them in 1997
Newcastle United face the very definition of a Champions League glamour tie against La Liga title holders Barcelona under the floodlights of St. James’ Park on Thursday night.
The Magpies are competing in Europe’s elite competition for the second time in three years after a dramatic upturn in fortunes under Eddie Howe. The former Bournemouth boss has established himself as a modern day great in the North East - and as a manager who can proudly have his name mentioned in the same breath as modern day coaching icons such as Sir Bobby Robson (a man with strong Barcelona connections) and Kevin Keegan, who despite leading the team to second in the 1995/96 season, never actually got the chance to manage the Magpies in Europe’s elite competition.
The fixture between Newcastle and Barcelona, is of course one that has plenty of history, and the Magpies did famously defeat Barcelona the last time they faced them in an opening day Champions League fixture. That was almost exactly 28 years ago, when they recorded a memorable 3-2 victory at home after an emphatic hat-trick from Colombian maverick Tino Asprilla.
The victory, masterminded by Kenny Dalglish, is seen as one of the club’s greatest ever European nights, but is it within the realms of possibility that something similar could happen again at St. James’ Park? Here we take a look at Newcastle’s record against Barcelona in Europe and the key weaknesses they could look to try and exploit.
Newcastle United’s head to head record with Barcelona
Newcastle United have won just one of their four matches against Barcelona. It remarkably came in 1997/98 in a season where the Magpies quite bizarrely dipped from second to 13th in the league table in Kenny Dalglish’s only full season in charge, with world record signing at the time, Alan Shearer, missing almost the full season due to injury.
Barcelona won a domestic double that season, but actually finished bottom of the Champions League group with their only win coming in the reverse fixture against the Magpies.
Since then, the two sides have faced each other two further times, with both meetings coming in a second group-stage in 2002/03 - Barcelona came out on top by two goals on both occasions. The Catalan giants remarkably finished that season in sixth position and were very much a shadow of the side that the Magpies face this week.
How Newcastle United should look to set up against Barcelona
Newcastle United’s main strength, particularly when playing at home, is pressing high and playing with intensity. It worked to great effect against French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Magpies’ last win in the competition two seasons ago - it’s the exact type of performance that Eddie Howe will hope to harness if his team are to have a chance of kicking off the competition with a shock win.
With that being said, it seems obvious that Anthony Gordon should get the nod to start ahead of Harvey Barnes on the left wing as he looks to redeem himself after his needless red card against Liverpool. Gordon is the epitome of an Howe-style attacker when in full flow and is perfect for putting opposing defenders on the back foot - forcing them into errors as displayed by big performances against Arsenal in both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final last term.
Gordon excels in terms of pace which is incredibly useful when playing against a Barcelona team which like to play an exceptionally high line - and another player that’s blessed with immense ability in that department is Anthony Elanga. The £55m addition is yet to hit the ground running but provided 18 goal contributions in total last term, with the vast majority coming on the counter. Elanga clocked up the second highest speed at 36.65 km/h last season and is the exact type of player that could benefit from this type of fixture despite Jacob Murphy’s strong performance in the league against Wolves.
Barcelona were by some distance the top scoring side in the Champions League. They managed 43 in 14 matches last term and had the joint top goalscorer in Raphinha, who registered 13 times while playing alongside Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski. However, it’s worth noting that their Achilles heel was their defensive record during several stages of the tournament. Barca leaked 24 goals in 14 matches - which was the fourth highest of any team last season.
This defensive fragility was displayed in chaotic yet thrilling matches, such as their 5-4 win over Benfica, their 3-3 draw with Inter and also their 4-3 loss to the same opponents in the reverse fixture of their semi-final. Notably two of Barcelona’s goals conceded across those two legs came from set piece scenarios - making it another area Newcastle could look to exploit with 6ft 6 Nick Woltemadeand 6ft 7 Dan Burn.
Barcelona had an average possession of 69.7% last season, and with stars like Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Dani Olmo among others are likely to have plenty of the ball. However, if Newcastle can match them for intensity in the middle of the park with rampaging trio Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton all operating at their best - and the defence remaining solid, there is every chance that the Magpies can gift St. James’ Park another iconic evening.
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