Barcelona have confirmed its squad to face Newcastle United in the Champions League on Thursday night at St James’ Park.
It will be the fifth time the two clubs have met in the competition and it comes almost exactly 28 years after the first.
On September 17, 1997, Newcastle beat Barcelona 3-2 at St James’ Park thanks to a Tino Asprilla hat-trick. Barring qualifiers, it was The Magpies’ first-ever match in the Champions League.
While Newcastle will be without summer signings Jacob Ramsey and Yoane Wissa for the match due to injury, Barcelona have also had a few injury concerns themselves.
Star winger Lamine Yamal and midfielder Frenkie De Jong were both listed as injury concerns ahead of the match. The pair missed out on Barca’s 6-0 win over Valencia on Sunday.
Barcelona official statement confirms Lamine Yamal injury
A statement released on Barcelona’s official website over the weekend read: “Lamine Yamal is having trouble in the pubic area that prevented him from training today and means he will play no part in Sunday's game with Valencia and will not be training with his team-mates until the problem is resolved.
“It means Barça will now be going into their first home game of the season without one of their most important players.”
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick hit out at Spain’s management of Lamal.
“He won't be available,” Flick said. “He went off to play for Spain with some pain and did not train. They gave him painkillers so he could play.
“They had at least a three-goal lead in both matches, and he still played 73 and 79 minutes. Between the games, he wasn’t able to train. That’s not looking after the player. I’m very sad about this."
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Barcelona squad confirmed for Newcastle United trip
Lamal’s expected absence for the trip to Tyneside was confirmed by Barcelona on Wednesday as the side headed to Newcastle.
Barcelona squad list to face Newcastle United in full: Joan Garcia, Szcesny, Kochen; R. Araujo, Cubarsi, Christensen, Gerard, Martin, Kounde, Eric, Jofre; Pedri, Fermin, M. Casado, Olmo, F. De Jong, Bernal; Ferran, Lewandowski, Raphinha, Rashford, Roony, A. Fernandez
Eddie Howe reacts to Lamine Yamal injury news
The news of Lamal’s injury for the upcoming Champions League match made its way back to Newcastle and head coach Eddie Howe.
“I think whenever I get asked about these types of questions, I think my answer is always the same,” Howe admitted. “You want to play the best teams, you want to play against the best players, you want to challenge yourselves as much as you can.
“In saying that, we also want to win, so we'll take whoever they play. We know they've got world-class players in all the positions. It's irrelevant to a degree, but obviously I understand the question.”
Newcastle’s previous Champions League campaign saw one of the world’s best players in Kylian Mbappe experience a difficult evening with Paris Saint-Germain at St James’ Park back in October 2023 as The Magpies won 4-1.
Howe and Newcastle will be hoping for another memorable evening at St James’ Park later this week.
“For me, it's a magical game,” Howe said. “It's the type of game that you're desperate to be a part of, desperate to hopefully represent the club really well, and I think that's our challenge.
“Of course, there's connections with Sir Bobby [Robson], which we fully embrace, and that's what makes it such a special thing.”
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