I want my team to be talked about like Asprilla and Gillespie – Howe

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has urged his squad to create a slice of Champions League folklore that will echo down the decades, just as Tino Asprilla’s famous hat-trick against Barcelona still resonates 27 years on.

Speaking on the eve of the first leg of the last-16 tie at St James’ Park, Howe recalled the night Asprilla’s treble and Keith Gillespie’s right-wing deliveries combined to sink the Catalan giants 3-2 in the 1997 group stage.

“I want our players to be talked about in the same way in 20, 30, 40 years,” Howe said, having himself watched the match on terrestrial television while playing for Bournemouth. “You couldn’t not watch that game. It was one of those legendary games.”

Newcastle met Barça earlier this season in the league phase, falling 2-1 on Tyneside, but Howe believes the rematch represents “the biggest game” in the club’s recent history. Victory would propel the Magpies into the quarter-finals for the first time ever and add a fresh chapter to European nights on Tyneside.

“It’s an opportunity to grab a moment that we may never get again,” he added. “We don’t want to waste that opportunity. We don’t want to kick ourselves or think, ‘What if?’”

Howe, already the first English manager to win six matches in a single Champions League campaign, stressed the need to seize the present, insisting tomorrow is never guaranteed in football.