Eddie Howe calls for immediate response as Newcastle shift focus to Sunderland after heavy Barcelona defeat
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has urged his players to respond with action rather than words as they prepare for Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland.
The Magpies head into the clash at St James’ Park on the back of a bruising Champions League exit, having been beaten 8-3 on aggregate by Barcelona in the round of 16. After a 1-1 draw on Tyneside in the first leg, Howe’s side were heavily defeated 7-2 at the Camp Nou.
Newcastle showed resilience in the first half in Spain, with Anthony Elanga twice restoring parity after early goals from Raphinha and Marc Bernal. However, Lamine Yamal’s penalty on the stroke of half-time shifted the momentum, and Barcelona dominated after the break, with Fermin Lopez, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha adding further goals.
Reflecting on the defeat, Howe admitted his side’s performance dropped significantly in the second half and pointed to key defensive lapses. “Yeah, I think our performance dropped [in the second-half]. I think that was quite clear,” he said after the contest.
“The first four goals, you can't concede. The two set plays are sort of unforgivable to a degree because you know how good they are in other aspects of their play. So to concede from two sort of regulation, one free kick, one corner, that can't happen if you're going to progress.
“And as I said, I think psychologically we never recovered from the moment at half-time for whatever reason that was. Whether we felt that we should have had a penalty at the other end, I don't know. But there was certainly a dip in our performance. The players gave so much to that opening, sort of 55, 60 minutes.
“I think that was the toughest period we had in the game, that middle period between 60 minutes and 80 minutes was really difficult for us. I have to compliment their technical delivery, their midfield players I thought were excellent today and of course their attackers, when given chances, were ruthless as well. I thought we gave them a really good game for the whole 90 minutes at St James' Park and then for a half today.”
Despite the scale of the defeat, Howe says the focus must immediately shift to Sunderland, with no time to dwell on the disappointment. “Yeah, I've got no problems picking myself up. It's more the players. I'm able to move quite quickly through things in the game and the review process to then think of the future very quickly,” he said.
“Now it's all about Sunderland. It's not about what's happened today. It's about learning from today and evolving and changing if we need to. But it's about the next game and making sure we're mentally ready, physically ready for what's going to be a huge game for us and for the whole city. So I think that's quite a good game for us to go straight into because there's no time for any other thought than that one.”
Newcastle will be seeking a response in the derby after losing 1-0 in the reverse fixture in December, and Howe acknowledged the significance of the occasion. “Yeah, it's huge. I think it's difficult for me to talk about it. I think we've just got to play. We've got to play like our lives depend on it,” he added.
“It’s such a big game for the city, for our supporters, for everyone connected with the club. We know that. We knew that before the first game. We know it even more now, so we need to deal with this very quickly and then look to Sunday.”
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