Barcelona vs Newcastle – News and Probable Lineups

On Wednesday night, Camp Nou will host an exciting second-leg encounter between Barcelona and Newcastle United in the Champions League round of 16.

The first leg, which took place at St James’ Park last week, ended in a 1-1 draw. A strike from Magpies winger Harvey Barnes in the 86th minute was equalized by a penalty from Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in a dramatic finish.

Match overview

Head coach Hansi Flick acknowledged that Barcelona “didn’t perform well” during the first leg despite salvaging a late equalizer and has called for improved performances if they are to make it to the Champions League quarter-finals for the third consecutive season.

The Catalan club will be confident heading into the second leg, as they have only failed to score in one of their last 29 Champions League matches—a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea on matchday five of the League Phase. However, they have struggled at the back, having not kept a clean sheet in their last 12 games in this competition.

Barcelona, who have won the Champions League five times, possess a strong pedigree in knockout situations, having won 23 of their last 29 two-legged ties in UEFA after drawing the first leg away, including 11 out of 14 times when that first leg ended 1-1.

They have also won each of their last five Champions League round-of-16 ties against English teams and have only lost two of their 37 home games against English sides in UEFA competitions (W22 D13), maintaining an unbeaten streak of 14 matches since losing 2-1 to Liverpool in the first leg of a round-of-16 tie in the 2006-07 season.

All of this gives Barcelona a favorable outlook as they approach Wednesday’s match, especially after a resounding 5-2 victory over Sevilla at Camp Nou in La Liga on Sunday, allowing them to regain a four-point lead at the top and bolstering their treble ambitions this season.

Newcastle responded well to their late equalizer against Barcelona by securing a vital 1-0 win in the Premier League against Chelsea on Saturday, thanks to a first-half goal from Anthony Gordon—marking their fourth victory out of five away matches in all competitions.

This marked the Magpies’ first victory at Stamford Bridge since Papiss Cisse’s memorable goal in 2012, which has improved their chances of qualifying for Europe, moving them up to ninth in the league, six points off the top six.

Eddie Howe praised his team’s “defensive mindset” against Chelsea after breaking a 14-match streak without a clean sheet in all competitions. The Newcastle manager is now hoping that his players can replicate “one of our best performances” from the first leg against Barcelona when they enter the pitch at Camp Nou for what could be the most significant match in the club’s recent history.

This season in the Champions League, Newcastle have only lost two of their 11 matches (W6 D3)—one defeat was away to Marseille (2-1) during the League Phase on matchday five and the other was a home loss to Barcelona (2-1) on matchday one.

The Magpies, who have never advanced past the last 16 in UCL history, face Barcelona on Wednesday buoyed by the fact that they have only lost the second leg in one of their last 10 two-legged ties in UEFA competitions (W7 D2). However, they have suffered defeat in four of their last five UEFA away games against Spanish teams.

Team News

Barcelona will be missing Jules Kounde, Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde (all hamstring injuries), along with Andreas Christensen (knee) as they recover from their respective injuries.

Yamal was fit enough to come on as a substitute against Sevilla after coping with an illness late last week, and he is anticipated to start on the right flank on Wednesday. At just 18 years and 249 days old, he is only one goal shy of matching Kylian Mbappe’s record for the most Champions League goals before turning 19 (10 goals).

Flick could consider bringing back England international Marcus Rashford, who scored twice in Barca’s 2-1 League Phase win over Newcastle earlier this season, but he might find it challenging to replace Raphinha on the left side after the latter netted a hat-trick against Sevilla.

For Newcastle, Bruno Guimaraes (hamstring), Lewis Miley (thigh), Fabian Schar (ankle), and Emil Krafth (knee) all remain sidelined due to injuries, while Sandro Tonali’s status will be evaluated after he missed the Chelsea match due to illness.

Gordon didn’t participate in the first leg against Barcelona due to health issues, but he is expected to lead the attack on Wednesday as he did against Chelsea—only Mbappe (13) has netted more UCL goals this season than Gordon (10).

Howe will need to decide whether to reinstate Kieran Trippier or maintain Tino Livramento at right-back, while Anthony Elanga, Joelinton, and Dan Burn will aim to return to the starting lineup. Jacob Murphy, Nick Woltemade, and Sven Botman may be replaced as a result.

Barcelona probable starting XI:

J. Garcia; Cancelo, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski

Newcastle United probable starting XI:

Ramsdale; Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Ramsey, Tonali, Joelinton; Elanga, Gordon, Barnes

Another tightly contested match could be on the cards this Wednesday, but we anticipate both Barcelona and Newcastle to find the back of the net, given that both teams have participated in eight Champions League matches this season where three or more goals were scored.

Newcastle demonstrated in the first leg that they can compete with Europe’s best, while recent Premier League victories against Manchester United and Chelsea have further enhanced their confidence. Nevertheless, Barcelona is still regarded as the favorite, and a team inspired by Yamal should find a way to outscore the Magpies.