Newcastle United 1-1 Barcelona: Anthony Gordon was left out of the starting line-up as Eddie Howe’s side drew at St James’ Park.
Newcastle United’s team selection againist Barcelona raised a few eyebrows when William Osula was selected to start up front once again.
Osula leading the line ahead of Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa for a game dubbed by Eddie Howe as ‘the biggest game in the club’s history’, was a talking point before and after the game.
The 22-year-old tried to repay the faith shown in him with an energetic performance in which he proved to be a handful for the Barcelona defenders but just lacked the killer instinct in front of goal as he saw a few chances go begging.
Ahead of the game, Newcastle legend Alan Shearer scrutinised Gordon’s omission from the starting line-up. Gordon went into the game having scored 10 goals in the Champions League so far this season, including one against Barcelona in the 2-1 defeat back in September.
“Maybe I’m old school, Les [Ferdinand] might be old school,” Shearer said on Amazon Prime. “But if you’re fit enough to train in the morning and I know he doesn’t feel well, but this is Barcelona and Newcastle for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. It would take something extraordinary to keep us out of this game tonight.
“To say, I might be able to give you half an hour at the end, I don’t know. Give me half an hour at the beginning and if you’re feeling alright, you get through to half-time. With his pace and his form in the Champions League, he’s going to be a huge miss.”
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Anthony Gordon illness explained
After the 1-1 draw, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe shed more light on Gordon’s fitness, firing back at Shearer’s comments by revealing that the forward wasn’t well enough to train in the morning
“I think with Anthony, that was this morning [we knew he couldn’t start],” Howe explained. “So we trained this morning and Anthony didn't make it. So that's a pretty good sign that he's not in the best physical condition.
“Doctors and everyone did a great job to get him at the start line for us, albeit for a short period of time. I thought he made a good contribution when he came on.
“So it meant an opportunity for Will. I think his profile and his qualities were good for this game. That's why we selected him.
“His legs, his pace, he’s a willing runner against their high defensive line-up. I thought that was the right choice. But he played really well, actually.
“I was really pleased with Will. There wasn't a goal there for him today, but I think more than played his part in a good performance.”
Eddie Howe explains Nick Woltemade & Yoane Wissa snub
Newcastle’s £120million striker pair of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa were not only named on the bench behind Osula, but they failed to get onto the pitch for the crucial Champions League clash.
“It’s always a tough decision not to play players that I love,” Howe said. “But that’s part of being a manageer and having to pick a team, I have to do what’s best for the group.”
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