Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe.placeholder image
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe. | Getty Images
Newcastle United’s Champions League squad to face Barcelona has been confirmed.
It’s the fifth time Newcastle have faced Barcelona in the competition, more than any other club. It also comes almost exactly 28 years since the sides first met at St James’ Park on September 17, 1997.
Newcastle won their first ever Champions League group match 3-2 thanks to a Tino Asprilla hat-trick.
Now, Eddie Howe’s side are preparing for their second Champions League campaign in three seasons as they look to progress to the knockout stages for the first time.
Newcastle will be without Yoane Wissa and Jacob Ramsey due to injury, although the pair have been included in the club’s ‘List A’ Champions League squad. Jamaal Lascelles, Harrison Ashby, Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy won’t be available for selection in the match after being left out of Newcastle’s ‘List A’ squad.
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Newcastle United’s Champions League squad
Earlier this month, Newcastle were required to submit a ‘List A’ squad of up to 25 players to be eligible to play in the Champions League group phase.
Of the 25 players, at least four had to be ‘club-trained’. Club-trained players are senior players who were contracted to the club in question for a minimum of three years between the ages of 15 and 21. Following the exits of Paul Dummett, Elliot Anderson and Sean Longstaff, Newcastle have no senior club-trained players to include on their List A. As a result, their List A squad for the Champions League has been reduced to 21 senior players.
In addition to Lascelles, Ruddy, Gillespie and Ashby, Newcastle left out Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall from their ‘List A’ squad. But their absence can be easily explained due to their age.
UEFA rules state that players born on or after January 1, 2004 - such as Miley and Hall - do not need to be included in the ‘List A’ squad if they have played for their club for at least two seasons. Instead, these players can be named in a ‘List B’ squad, which is submitted at least 24 hours ahead of any given match.
Unsurprisingly, Hall and Miley are named in Newcastle’s ‘List B’, meaning they are eligible to feature against Barcelona on Thursday night. The same will almost certainly apply for all of Newcastle’s upcoming Champions League group stage ties, given an unlimited number of eligible players can be named on the ‘List B’.
Hall had to be named in Newcastle’s ‘List A’ squad during their previous Champions League campaign as he had not played for the club for a minimum of two years. Miley, while technically a club-trained player, is still young enough to be included in the ‘List B’ squad.
Having omitted John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie from the squad, Newcastle have to name a goalkeeper on their ‘List B’ squad. UEFA rules state at least three goalkeepers must be named in a club’s squad.
As Newcastle only named Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale in their ‘List A’ squad, a goalkeeper has been named as part of the ‘List B’ squad.
21-year-old Max Thompson has been named on the ‘List B’ squad for the match as Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper. Several other Under-21s players, such as Alex Murphy, are also included in the ‘List B’ squad, with Newcastle able to name a bench of up to 12 players plus the 11 starters.
A Newcastle Under-19s side will face their Barcelona counterparts in the UEFA Youth League at Whitley Park on Thursday (3pm kick-off).
Newcastle United Champions League ‘List A’ squad
Here is Newcastle United’s Champions League squad in full...
Goalkeepers: Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento, Emil Krafth, Dan Burn, Malick Thiaw, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman
Midfielders: Joelinton, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Jacob Ramsey, Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy, Anthony Elanga, Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon
Forwards: Yoane Wissa, Nick Woltemade, William Osula
While Newcastle’s squad has been confirmed and the ‘List B’ allows young players such as Miley and Hall to play in Champions League matches, there is still some hope for a player such as Jamaal Lascelles to be included due to a new rule introduced by UEFA.
To manage the workloads of players, clubs can now make one alteration to their ‘List A’ squad if they suffer a ‘long-term’ injury or an ‘illness’ which prevents a player currently named in the ‘List A’ squad from featuring in matches.
Last time out in the Champions League, Newcastle were hit with several long-term injury blows that could have prompted them to make a squad change, but the rules at the time did not allow it.
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