Newcastle and Barcelona meet each other for the first time since March 2003 when goals from Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta secured a 2-0 away victory for the Spanish side. It is a mouthwatering tie and could be the biggest game of the opening European fixtures but there is one problem.
Not only is manager Hansi Flick will be without his star, Lamine Yamal, but he will be without thousands of supporters on Thursday night. Thursday’s edition of AS warns Barca of the “great atmosphere” at St. James’ Park where their fans “never stop cheering for their players”.
The report also highlights how “(The visitors) will practically have to do it alone because hardly any Barcelona fans have travelled to the match.” This comes after The Magpies allocated 2,600 tickets to the La Liga winners, but less than 30% of that are expected to turn up.
Newcastle head into Thursday’s contest having won just one of their last eight European games, but they have only suffered defeat in three of their last 31 European home fixtures. Now, they will have a massive home advantage on their side in what should be a sold out game where their fans massively overpower the Barcelona support.