PREVIEW: Newcastle seek Champions League revenge against Barcelona

St James’ Park will be the stage for a heavyweight Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday night as Newcastle United welcome Barcelona, eight weeks after the Catalans edged a 2-1 group-stage thriller at the same venue. Marcus Rashford’s double that evening ultimately cancelled out Anthony Gordon’s late strike, and the Magpies are determined to flip the script in front of another raucous Tyneside crowd.

Newcastle’s route to the knockout phase was anything but straightforward. Finishing outside the automatic top-eight places forced Eddie Howe’s side into a play-off, where they obliterated Qarabag FK 9-3 on aggregate to book their place in the last 16 for the first time since the competition’s rebrand. Domestically the picture is bleaker: the Magpies languish 12th in the Premier League and have seen both domestic cup hopes extinguished by Manchester City inside the past month.

Barcelona, by contrast, coasted through the league phase in fifth and received a bye to the last 16 alongside fellow heavyweights Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Sporting CP and Manchester City. Hansi Flick’s side sit four points clear atop La Liga, already have the Supercopa de España in the trophy cabinet, and despite a surprise Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Atlético Madrid last week, they remain seasoned European campaigners. The Blaugrana have missed the Champions League knockout rounds only twice in the past 17 years and have lifted the famous trophy five times, most recently in 2015 against Juventus.

For Newcastle, the tie represents uncharted territory. “This is the biggest game in the club’s history,” Howe told reporters on Monday. “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 we’ll get through.”

Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. UK time, with the return leg at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys seven days later. Barcelona will expect business as usual, yet Newcastle sense a chance for redemption—and perhaps the signature upset of their new era.