In other Newcastle United news, Barcelona will be missing two key players when they go to St. James’ Park to play Newcastle United in the Champions League next week.
Barcelona, the current La Liga winners, will visit St. James’ Park on September 18, which is the first game of Newcastle United’s winners League season. They played each other in the group rounds of the 1997–98 competition, 28 years and one day before that game.
People on Tyneside will always remember Tino Asprilla’s hat-trick, which helped the Magpies beat the Spanish giants 3-2. At the time, Kenny Dalglish was their manager. If they play and win like that again next week, it will be another unforgettable European night at St. James’ Park.
Because the competition and league stage have been changed, Eddie Howe’s team has to play four home games. Their first opponent, Barcelona, will be the hardest test they will face at home. In the league stage, you can also expect to see Benfica, Athletic Club, and PSV Eindhoven.
Two Barcelona players will miss the game against Newcastle United.
Next week, when Howe and his team play at St. James’ Park, they will be facing the Champions League semi-finalists from last year. But Barcelona’s boss Hansi Flick and his assistant Marcus Sorg will not be in the dugout on Thursday because they are both going to be banned for one game.
Because of a ban from last season, Flick and Sorg will have to sit out one game. UEFA banned the two for one game for bad behaviour after Barcelona lost the second leg of the semi-final to Inter Milan in May.
Flick was upset about some calls at the San Siro that he thought went against his team, and he was fined €20,000. After that game, UEFA also made Sorg pay a €20,000 fine.
Barcelona has won two of their first three La Liga games this season, with both Flick and Sorg in charge. They have also tied one. But those three games have all been away from home because the Camp Nou is getting closer to being finished being fixed up.
When Barcelona comes back to their home field after the international break, they will play Valencia on September 14. They will be going to St. James’ Park four days after that game. On October 1, they will play their first Champions League game at home against reigning champions PSG.
In the league part of the Champions League, Newcastle United will also play PSG. They will end their eight-game league season with a trip to the Parc des Princes. When they played each other in the 2023–24 Champions League group stage, the Magpies beat PSG by four points.
Barcelona, on the other hand, has played Newcastle United four times in the Champions League and has a very good record against them. All three of their previous meetings have ended in wins for Barcelona, except for the 3-2 loss at St. James’ Park in 1997.
Barcelona beat Newcastle United 2-0 at St. James’ Park on March 19, 2003, thanks to goals from Thiago Motta and Patrick Kluivert, who would later play as a striker for Newcastle. That game was more than 22 years ago.
Leave a Reply