Camp Nou will stage an intriguing second-leg showdown between Barcelona and Newcastle United in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night.
A **1-1 draw**was played out at St James’ Park in last week’s first leg, with an 86th minute strike from Magpies winger Harvey Barnes cancelled out by a dramatic 96th-minute penalty from Barca sensation Lamine Yamal.
Match preview
Head coach Hansi Flick was the first to acknowledge that his Barcelona side “didn't make a good game” in last week’s first leg, despite rescuing a late draw, and he has urged his players to perform “much better” if they wish to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for a third successive season.
The Catalan giants will back themselves to score in the second leg, as they have only failed to make the net ripple in one of their last 29 Champions League games – a 3-0 away defeat to Chelsea on matchday five of the League Phase. They have not been as strong defensively, though, as they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 12 matches in the competition.
Barcelona - five-time Champions League winners - boast impressive knockout pedigree in Europe’s premier club competition, as they have won 23 of their 29 UEFA two-legged ties after drawing the first leg away, including 11 out of 14 when that first leg has finished 1-1.
They have also prevailed in each of their previous five Champions League last-16 encounters with English opposition and have suffered defeat in just two of their 37 home games against English sides in UEFA competition (W22 D13), enjoying a 14-game unbeaten run since losing 2-1 to Liverpool in the first leg of a last-16 tie in 2006-07.
All this bodes well for a Barca side who head into Wednesday’s contest in buoyant mood, after **beating Sevilla 5-2**at Camp Nou in La Liga on Sunday to re-establish their four-point lead at the summit and boost their hopes of winning a famous treble this season.
© Imago / APL
Newcastle bounced back from the disappointment of conceding late against Barcelona by securing an important 1-0 Premier League win at Chelsea on Saturday, courtesy of a first-half strike from Anthony Gordon – their fourth victory in five away matches across all competitions.
It marked the Magpies’ first success at Stamford Bridge since Papiss Cisse’s iconic banana-style goal in 2012, and the result has boosted their hopes of European qualification, climbing to ninth in the table and six points behind the top six.
Eddie Howe hailed his team’s “defensive mentality” against Chelsea after ending a 14-game run without a clean sheet in all tournaments. The Newcastle boss is now hoping that his players can replicate “one of our best performances” from the first leg against Barcelona when they take to the pitch at Camp Nou for what is arguably the biggest game in the club’s recent history.
In this season’s Champions League, Newcastle have lost just two of their 11 games (W6 D3) – one of those was away against Marseille (2-1) in the League Phase on matchday five and the other was on matchday one at home to Barcelona (2-1).
The Magpies, who have never progressed beyond the last 16 in UCL history, head into Wednesday’s clash with Barca buoyed by the fact that they have lost the second leg in only one of their last 10 two-legged ties in UEFA competition (W7 D2). They have lost four of their previous five UEFA away games against Spanish opposition, though.
Barcelona Champions League form:
D
L
W
W
W
D
Barcelona form (all competitions):
W
W
W
W
D
W
Newcastle United Champions League form:
D
W
D
W
W
D
Newcastle United form (all competitions):
W
L
W
L
D
W
Team News
© Imago / Pressinphoto
© Imago / Pressinphoto
Barcelona will be without Jules Kounde, Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde (all hamstring) and Andreas Christensen (knee) as they all continue to recover from injury.
Yamal was fit to feature as a substitute against Sevilla last time out after dealing with illness towards the end of last week, and the winger is expected to start on the right side of attack on Wednesday. At the age of 18 years and 249 days, he is just one goal away from equalling Kylian Mbappe’s record for the most Champions League goals scored before turning 19 (10 goals).
Flick will consider recalling England international Marcus Rashford, who netted a brace in Barca’s 2-1 League Phase win over Newcastle earlier this season, but he will find it difficult to replace Raphinha on the left flank after he scored a hat-trick against Sevilla.
As for Newcastle, Bruno Guimaraes (hamstring), Lewis Miley (thigh), Fabian Schar (ankle) and Emil Krafth (knee) all remain out with injuries, while Sandro Tonali will be assessed after missing the win at Chelsea through illness.
Gordon did not start the first leg against Barcelona due to illness, but he is expected to lead the line on Wednesday as he did at Chelsea – only Mbappe (13) has scored more UCL goals this season than Gordon (10).
Howe will weigh up whether to recall Kieran Trippier or stick with Tino Livramento at right-back, while Anthony Elanga, Joelinton and Dan Burn will all be hoping to force their way back into the starting lineup. Jacob Murphy, Nick Woltemade and Sven Botman could all make way as a result.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
J. Garcia; Cancelo, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Ramsey, Tonali, Joelinton; Elanga, Gordon, Barnes
We say: Barcelona 2-1 Newcastle United (Barcelona to win 3-2 on aggregate)
Another closely-contested battle could be in store on Wednesday, but we are still backing Barcelona and Newcastle to find the net, given that these two teams have been involved in eight Champions League games this season in which three or more goals have been scored.
Newcastle proved in the first leg that they are capable of competing with Europe’s elite, while recent Premier League wins over Man United and Chelsea have also boosted their confidence. However, Barca will still be regarded as favourites here and a Yamal-inspired side should find a way to outscore the Magpies.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.