FC Barcelona supporters after the Copa Del Rey Semi Final Second Leg match between FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid at Camp Nou on March 03, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)placeholder image
FC Barcelona supporters after the Copa Del Rey Semi Final Second Leg match between FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid at Camp Nou on March 03, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Newcastle United take on Barcelona in the last-16 of the Champions League.
It is the second time the two teams have faced each other in this season’s Champions League, with Barca emerging as 2-1 winners in the league phase opener back in September.
Barca went on to finish 5th in the league phase, automatically securing a place in the last 16. Newcastle, meanwhile, progressed to this stage via a 9-3 play-off aggregate win over Azerbaijan champions Qarabag.
Barcelona confirm 1,300 away supporters
Hansi Flick’s side beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the La Liga table to four points. They then spent the night in the Basque region before flying directly to Newcastle on Sunday.
On their previous visit to Newcastle, Barca stayed in a hotel on the Quayside, however this time have decided to base themselves 18 miles north of St James’ Park at the five-star luxury golf resort Matfen Hall in Northumberland.
Barcelona will train at St James’ Park tonight in their final training session before tomorrow’s game. As always, away supporters will be based in the upper-tier of the Leazes Stand, with Barca confirming that 1,300 will be in attendance.
A club statement read: “Barca will be backed by almost 1,300 supporters for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 game on Tuesday 10 March at St James’ Park in Newcastle. Of those, 949 are club members and 333 are supporters’ club members (penyistes).
“The supporters’ club with the largest representation will be PB London of Great Britain, with 38 members making the trip, followed by the supporters’ clubs from Poland, which are regularly present at European away games, as well as large contingents from Shanghai, Liege and Paris.
“Several supporters’ clubs from Catalonia and other parts of Spain will also be in attendance to support the team from the stands and help create a vibrant atmosphere in what promises to be a decisive match.”
The biggest game in Newcastle United’s history - Eddie Howe
That means Newcastle will be backed by over 50,000 home fans for what Eddie Howe has described as the biggest game in the club’s history.
Typically, away teams get an away allocation of 3,000 but Howe will hope those extra couple of thousand home fans can a huge difference.
Speaking after Saturday’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, Howe said: “I think they're obviously long-term questions, my focus is really short-term and it's trying to win the game that's in front of me and that's Barcelona in the Champions League.
“I think we have to be, as much as it's easy to be very negative in this moment, I understand we've gone out of the FA Cup but we have the biggest game in the club's history coming up in no time at all.
“We've got to get the players ready for that, we've got no time to dwell on this.”
Asked to clarify his statement, Howe replied: “Well, we've never been in this position in the Champions League before and it's the best competition there is, so, for obvious reasons, I think it's a massive game in our history.
“We need to approach it that way. We need the supporters to think that way, and we need to try and find some energy from somewhere that will elevate our performance to a level that we've not seen before this season, because I think that's the only way that we'll get through it.”
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