28 years ago yesterday, Newcastle United stunned Barcelona in a 3-2 win at St James’ Park, with Tino Asprilla the hero in one of the great European nights on Tyneside.
I was too young to remember the moment itself, but my dad tells me he ran upstairs in celebration, lifted three-year-old me out of my cot, and celebrated in front of the TV in disbelief – _“We’re 3-0 up against Barcelona! This is unbelievable!”_
Almost three decades later, it’s Eddie Howe’s Mags who take on Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, with Newcastle United looking to make the dream start this season’s UEFA Champions League, where we have eight games to come in the new league format featuring 36 clubs.
* 18/09/25 – Barcelona (H)
* 01/10/25 – Union Saint-Gilloise (A)
* 21/10/25 – Benfica (H)
* 05/11/25 – Athletic Bilbao (H)
* 25/11/25 – Marseille (A)
* 10/12/25 – Bayer Leverkusen (A)
* 21/01/26 – PSV Eindhoven (H)
* 28/01/26 – PSG (A)
The Barca test is a big one against one of the top sides in Europe, but there will be no fear inside St James’ Park, just belief and excitement that we just might be able to pull off another magical night in Newcastle.
So, while we remember the great Sir Bobby Robson, prepare for Wor Flags’ pre-match display and hope 1997’s heroics can be repeated by Howe’s Mags, let’s get behind the lads from start to finish and show the world what we can all achieve together once again.
Team news
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Anthony Gordon is eligible to play, with his three-game ban (which ends after Sunday’s game at Bournemouth) only eligible for domestic fixtures.
Yoane Wissa (knee) and Jacob Ramsay (ankle) remain out and should be back after next month’s international break, and everyone else trained heading into tonight’s game.
For Barcelona, Lamine Yamal has been ruled out, with the 18-year-old sensation missing along with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, left-back Alejandro Bade and midfield Gavi, but Dutchman Frenkie De Jong is back in their squad.
Elsewhere for Barca, Hansi Flick and his assistant are both serving touchline bans after seeing red in Barcelona’s semi-final defeat to Inter Milan in last season’s UCL campaign.
Predicted XI
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(4-3-3) _Pope – Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento – Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton – Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon._
Most of the team picks itself right now. Centre-backs Dan Burn and Fabian Schar have barely put a foot wrong, helping us to three clean sheets in our opening four, Tino Livramento is becoming a key member of the side, midfield trio Joelinton, Tonali and Bruno will be key and Anthony Gordon will surely come back into the side, with his pace and energy a big asset against Barcelona’s high line.
Unless Howe mixes it up and goes with a back five, my questions going into the game are:
* Kieran Trippier or Lewis Hall?
* Jacob Murphy or Anthony Elanga?
* Will Nick Woltemade start again?
At the back, I had expected Hall to play against Wolves, keeping Trippier fresh for Barcelona and Tino moving back to the right, yet the latter played 90 minutes on Saturday. It’s tricky call for Howe tonight, I can just see him sticking by Trippier’s big-game experience, rather than throwing Hall in at the deep end for his first start in six months against an electric Barca attack.
On the right wing, Murphy got his trademark assist on Saturday and doesn’t deserve to be dropped. But, Elanga’s pace and freshness could be a massive against Barcelona’s high line. Either way, it’s refreshing to have two quality options totally different in style, adding depth to a squad that struggled to cope with the fixture demands two seasons ago.
As for Woltemade, he was taken off just after the hour mark on Saturday and has had another week’s training. His goal and all round play was superb last weekend and could be a huge part of our play here, dropping deep to link the play and find runners who could burst beyond him, so I think we’ll see big Nick play another hour or so here. If not, it will surely be Gordon in the false 9 role, with two of Barnes, Elanga and Murphy either side,
Match prediction
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Quite incredibly, Barcelona have not failed to score in any of their 43 games this calendar year. They’ve also lost just two within 90 minutes in that time, winning 35.
It’s also worth noting that 17 of their last 20 games have featured three or more goals, and I think that trend will continue tonight at a raucous St James’ Park.
Barcelona’s high line could be a dangerous game against the likes of Gordon and Elanga, but they are very good at it and a much better team than the PSG side who were battered 4-1 in our opening home game of our last Champions League campaign two seasons ago.
I don’t think it’ll quite be that 3-2 win of 1997, which took place 28 years ago yesterday. However, I give us every chance of causing the upset and think we’ll give the La Liga giants one almighty test.
When the players respond to a big atmosphere at St James’, this team are capable of anything on home turf under Eddie Howe.
**Prediction:** Newcastle 2-2 Barcelona
Howay the lads!