Newcastle will face Barcelona again in the Champions League, a familiar opponent to former defender Aaron Hughes
Aaron Hughes (L) in action for Newcastle United against Barcelona
Aaron Hughes (L) in action for Newcastle United against Barcelona(Image: 2002 Getty Images)
When news filtered through that Newcastle would mark their return to the Champions League with a home game against Spanish champions Barcelona, it wasn't long before everyone associated with the club was taking a trip down memory lane.
Of course, Newcastle famously beat the same opponents 3-2 back in 1997 in what was their first ever game in the Champions League group stages.
Tino Asprilla etched his name into club folklore by scoring a hat-trick against Louis van Gaal's side and it remains one of, if not the most famous night St James' Park has ever witnessed.
The atmosphere in the city was crackling. Oasis were playing at the arena that same night and frontman Liam Gallagher famously entered the stage wearing a Newcastle shirt.
And that atmosphere was felt in the stadium. The TV cameras were literally shaking as the players came out the tunnel and a 17-year-old Aaron Hughes had the perfect seat in the house as he was named among the substitutes that evening by manager Kenny Dalglish.
"I don’t remember much from the actual game, it was more the atmosphere and the feeling," Hughes told Chronicle Live.
"I probably didn’t fully appreciate it. It is only when you finish and you look back you realise how big it was, whether you were on the pitch or not.
"I do remember Keith [Gillespie] that night was sensational with the contribution he made to Tino’s hat-trick.
"It was more the atmosphere. It was an incredible atmosphere and I think it’s one of the best atmospheres I can remember and it was such an iconic game.
"As a kid on the bench I think I was exactly that. A wide-eyed kid trying to take everything in. I was trying to concentrate on if I was to get on the pitch what would happen but you were almost lost in the game and taking everything in."
Even more incredibly, Hughes would go on to make his professional debut in the return fixture at the Camp Nou, coming off the bench at half-time to replace Philippe Albert, who had picked up an injury.
"It is something that is quite nice to have on the CV," Hughes added.
"The stadium was quite empty because I think their fans had boycotted the game because they couldn’t qualify.
"But there were still maybe 25,000 at the game but I just remember the Newcastle fans way up at the top, soaking wet, and I look back now and think it was a special time.
"We lost two centre-backs in the first 45 minutes so by the time the decision was made they were going to make a change there was only a few minutes left before the second half kicked off.
"I didn’t have much time to think about it when I was told I was going on. It was quickly putting on my shinpads and my socks and it was ready to go.
"It was literally a scramble to get ready so maybe it was a good thing that I was able to just roll out and get on with it."
Newcastle lost 1-0 in Catalonia but that would prove to be Barcelona's only win in the group. A win and a draw over Dynamo Kyiv was not enough for the Magpies to go through, though, as successive defeats to PSV meant they ended the group in third place.
Hughes would go on to establish himself as a key player at Newcastle under Sir Bobby Robson and was regarded as one of the most underrated, yet consistent, defenders in the Premier League in the early noughties.
The former Northern Ireland international played a major role in the side under Robson that finished fourth during the 2001/02 Premier League season and that booked a return to the Champions League after five years away.
Newcastle became the first side in Champions League history to recover from losing their first three matches of the group stage to qualify for the knockout stages.
A 1-0 win over Juventus and a 2-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv at home set up a dramatic final matchday in Rotterdam where Craig Bellamy's last gasp winner secured a 3-2 win over Feyenoord that booked their place in the next round.
Back then, the second round was a second group stage and, as luck would have it, Newcastle were paired with Barcelona again, as well as Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen.
It meant Robson would return to Barcelona, who he had managed in the 1996/97 season and won the Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, for the first time as manager of Newcastle, the team he had grown up supporting.
"Given the regard he was held in there and just knowing that and being aware of that, without necessarily anything he said, it was a special game for him," Hughes explained.
"We were certainly aware of how big of an occasion it was for him given he was held in such esteem there and he was now managing his boyhood team, it was a special night."
Newcastle lost 3-1 in the Camp Nou, despite a goal from Shola Ameobi, having lost 4-1 to Inter in their opening game.
Aaron Hughes during Newcastle's 3-1 defeat in Barcelona in 2002
Back-to-back wins over Leverkusen reignited their campaign and then a 2-2 draw with Inter in Milan set up a tantalising final rematch against Barcelona at St James' Park.
Their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals were ended by a 2-0 defeat to the Spanish giants but it is a Champions League campaign that still lives long in the memory of Newcastle fans.
Hughes would leave Newcastle to join Aston Villa in 2005. He would later join Fulham, with whom he reached the Europa League final in 2010, before taking in spells with QPR, Brighton, Melbourne City and Hearts.
That campaign would prove to be his last in the Champions League and it is only since retirement does he realise how special a time that was in Newcastle's history.
“I only appreciate things properly after stepping out of the game," Hughes said.
"At the time it was almost normal because we were pushing for the Premier League title and we were qualifying for the Champions League.
"When I look back now and my career after leaving Newcastle, I never got the opportunity to play in the Champions League again so I wish I had taken a moment to, not enjoy it, but to appreciate it and savour it a wee bit more than I did at the time.
"It was a great time at the club and I have always since then felt like the club and the city thrives in the Champions League so it is just great to see the club back there again."
Newcastle now mark their return to Europe's top table against Barcelona again.
Hughes will be among the 52,000 fans packed into St James' Park on Thursday, his first visit since a drab draw at home to Brighton during the Mike Ashley era.
Hughes, who is now technical director of the Northern Irish FA, is excited to sample the St James' Park experience he had grown accustomed to as a player, and he has high hopes for Eddie Howe's class of 2025 making their own history in the competition.
"I think the Premier League gets stronger every year and if you look at the Premier League back then you had a top five or six, a bottom three or four and then the rest were in the middle," Hughes finished.
"You can’t look at the Premier League like that any more. You always have a few who can win it and a couple of surprises but after that you can’t predict what will happen in a Premier League season. It is so competitive now and that translates into when those teams go into Europe.
"The level of competition helps English teams in the Champions League and I think Newcastle, with the squad they have at the moment and the players they have, are more than capable of competing at that level.
"How far they can go, who knows? A lot depends on various things but in terms of the squad they have in the building, I just think any time Newcastle are at home in the Champions League with the atmosphere, you would fancy them against anyone."