A mouthwatering Champions League contest takes centre stage at St James’ Park on Thursday night, as Newcastle United play host to Barcelona in their opening Lague Phase fixture of the 2025-26 competition.
The two teams lock horns for the first time since March 2003 when goals from Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta secured a 2-0 away victory for the Catalan giants in the second group stage.
Match preview
Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade celebrates on September 13, 2025
Following the sour exit of Alexander Isak on deadline day, all eyes were on Newcastle’s club-record signing Nick Woltemade when he stepped onto the St James’ Park turf for the first time as a Premier League player in last Saturday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After netting 17 Bundesliga goals for Stuttgart last season, the German striker did not disappoint on his full debut for Newcastle, as he used all of his 6ft 6in frame to rise and power home a superb header in the first half to seal a slender 1-0 home win for the Magpies, ending the club’s three-game winless run.
Head coach Eddie Howe “didn't see much wrong” with his team’s performance and the victory has provided Newcastle with a much-needed boost as they prepare to kick-start their second Champions League campaign in three seasons and fourth overall in Europe’s premier club competition.
Newcastle were eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League’s previous format in 2023-24, coming up short in a group of death against PSG, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, and they have more challenging, yet exciting, UCL ties to look forward to in the League Phase this term against the likes of Barcelona, Benfica, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and PSG once again.
The Magpies head into Thursday’s contest having won just one of their last eight European games (D3 L4), but they have only suffered defeat in three of their last 31 European home fixtures (W21 D7) and have won four of their six home encounters with Spanish opposition in UEFA club competition (L2), which bodes well ahead of their tricky test against Barcelona.
Hansi Flick head coach of Barcelona pictured in August 2025
After winning their second La Liga title in three seasons and first under head coach Hansi Flick in 2024-25, Barcelona have begun the defence of their top-flight crown by accumulating 10 points from their opening four matches, most recently smashing Valencia by a 6-0 scoreline on Sunday.
Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez were all at the double as the Catalan giants claimed three ‘perfect’ points in the eyes of Flick and emphatically eased to their biggest victory in all competitions since 2016.
Currently sitting second in the La Liga standings behind early leaders Real Madrid, Barcelona are determined to finish above their arch rivals once again this term, while they are also eager to end their 11-year wait to lift the Champions League after coming up short in the semi-finals of last season’s competition, losing a chaotic two-legged tie with Inter 7-6 on aggregate.
This season represents Barca’s 30th campaign in the Champions League which is a competition record they share with Real Madrid; they finished second in the 36-team table of the League Phase last season with 19 points from eight games, scoring a competition-high 28 goals in the process.
Barcelona head into their clash with Newcastle having lost only two of their last 17 UCL group stage/League Phase games against English teams (W8 D7), while they have also lost on matchday one in only three of their previous 29 participations in the competition (W20 D6), although they did suffer a 2-1 defeat to Monaco in their opening match of 2024-25.
Newcastle United form (all competitions):
D L D W
Barcelona form (all competitions):
W W D W
Team News
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal on August 4, 2025
Newcastle United with be without summer signings Yoane Wissa and Jacob Ramsey as they continue to recover from respective knee and ankle injuries.
Anthony Gordon is currently serving a domestic suspension, but he is available to play against Barcelona and could start on the left wing at the expense of Harvey Barnes, while Anthony Elanga will battle with Jacob Murphy for a place on the opposite flank.
Howe will weigh up whether to stick with the centre-back partnership of Fabian Schar and Dan Burn, or hand a start to either Sven Botman or Malick Thiaw, while Lewis Hall will continue to push Tino Livramento for a start at left-back.
As for Barcelona, teenage sensation Lamine Yamal (groin) and Frenkie de Jong (muscle) are both major doubts due to injury, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back), Gavi (knee) and Alejandro Balde (hamstring) all remain in the treatment room.
After scoring as substitutes last time out, both Lewandowski and Raphinha are expected to return to the first XI. While Lewandowski has nine goals in his last seven League Phase appearances, Raphinha was the joint-top scorer in last season’s Champions League with 13 goals, also registering nine assists.
Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford is also in contention to start in attack, while Marc Casado could continue alongside Pedri in centre-midfield if De Jong is not deemed fit to feature.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
J. Garcia; Kounde, E. Garcia, Cubarsi, Martin; Casado, Pedri; Raphinha, Fermin, Rashford; Lewandowski
SM words green background
We say: Newcastle United 2-3 Barcelona
Newcastle may have registered three clean sheets in their opening four PL games so far this term, but keeping Barcelona quiet in front of goal could prove challenging on Thursday, considering that the Catalans have scored three or more goals in 10 of their last 13 Champions League matches.
The Magpies are sure to pose a threat of their own in the final third and will hope to take advantage of Barca’s high defensive line, but the visitors may just have enough to come away with maximum points from an entertaining encounter.
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