Barcelona vs Newcastle – Match preview and team news

Barcelona clash with Newcastle United in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 today.

The Blaugrana escaped St. James’ Park with a 1-1 draw after Lamine Yamal scored a penalty with the last kick of the game, cancelling out Harvey Barne’s opener.

The Magpies will be looking for their first win at the Camp Nou and only their second win ever over Barça, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde remain sidelined through injury. Frenkie De Jong will not be available wither, with his return expected in late March. Andreas Christensen is another definite absentee, as the Danish defender continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

Jofre Torrents and Toni Fernandez, both of whom were on the bench for Barcelona earlier in the year, are sidelined as well. Torrents is expected to be back around in May and Fernandez will be back in late March.

Gavi recently returned to the pitch for the first time in almost seven months when he was introduced as a substitute in the 82nd minute of the game against Sevilla and he is once again set to be included in the squad on Wednesday as well, though is unlikely to be included in the starting lineup.

Marc Bernal also featured against Sevilla and could be named on the bench, while Casado may come back in the starting XI.

Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal are also set to start from the kick-off this time after their respective substitute appearances at the weekend.

The Tyneside outfit are also dealing with a challenging injury list. Right-back Emil Krafth is sidelined with a knee problem, while promising midfielder Lewis Miley is absent due to a thigh injury that has ruled him out of both legs of the tie.

Key centre-back Fabian Schar is missing with an ankle injury, forcing Howe to lean on Malick Thiaw and Dan Burn as his main central defensive partnership for the trip to Spain.

In midfield, Bruno Guimarães is unavailable with a thigh issue and is not expected back until April, removing Newcastle’s main deep-lying playmaker and shifting more responsibility onto Sandro Tonali and Joelinton.

Antony Gordon will be pivotal for their success away from home. The English winger has already scored 10 goals in 11 matches in the Champions League this season.

Barcelona are on a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions and are coming off the back of convincing 5-2 win against Sevilla in La Liga. Raphinha scored a hat-trick while Dani Olmo and Joao Cancelo added the other two goals.

Hansi Flick’s men are also enjoying a brilliant run at home where they have scored at least three goals in each of their last nine home matches, with a total of 33 goals scored over this period.

Although Newcastle are struggling in the Premier League, their European journey have been impressive. They currently sit ninth in the Premier League table with 42 points from 30 matches. However, they comfortably defeated Qarabag in the play-offs round with an aggregate score of 9-3 over both legs. They also come to this match after an impressive victory over Chelsea away from home in the league.

Barcelona: J. Garcia; Cancelo, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski

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

In the UK, Barcelona vs Newcastle in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg will be shown live on TNT Sports 2.

Read – The biggest ever comebacks in the Champions League knockouts

See Also – The only Brazilians to reach 100 Premier League goal involvements

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