Barcelona's first stop on the long road to European glory takes them to Newcastle, where they will come up against a formidable opponent and equally formidable atmosphere at St James' Park without the talismanic Lamine Yamal. The injured 18-year-old has been ruled out, having found himself at the centre of a feud between club and country, but loanee Marcus Rashford will be determined to make an impact in his absence.
On the face of it, things have been going pretty smoothly for Barca so far this season. Hansi Flick's side are unbeaten in La Liga, albeit they surprisingly had to come from 2-0 down and rely on a late own goal to beat Levante in gameweek two and were then frustratingly held by minnows Rayo Vallecano before the international break to fall two points behind early pacesetters Real Madrid.
However, the Blaugrana arrive on Tyneside for their opening Champions League league phase clash with Newcastle against the backdrop of a high-profile and, in their eyes, very avoidable injury quandary - one that could feasibly hand their hosts the advantage under the lights on Thursday night: they will be without talismanic teenager Yamal.
Much to his club's displeasure, the prodigious 18-year-old has been ruled out after seemingly being forced to play through the pain barrier on international duty with Spain, despite aggravating a pre-existing groin issue. In the St James' Park cauldron, Barca will have to do without him, and Rashford could be the man to step up.