Newcastle United

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Former Newcastle United defender John Anderson believes the squad's recent Champions League experience will "stand them in good stead" for their opener against Barcelona at St James' Park.

"The fact that most of the players have played in the Champions League before most definitely stands them in good stead," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle. "It's not as if they're going into the competition not knowing what to expect - the majority of them have been there, done it and know what to expect.

"They have already had that big game against Paris St-Germain at St James' Park - the 4-1 win - which was an outstanding night and performance. Hopefully that's what we will see against Barcelona, who are one of the best in Europe.

"Compared to when the club was last in the Champions League, the squad is a lot stronger and there are more options for Eddie Howe.

"The 1-0 win over Wolves also came at a good time to build confidence and self-belief."

When asked if Anthony Gordon should start in attack against the Spanish giants, Anderson replied: "I think so. He gives you that little bit of something different and that little bit of energy.

"When he plays, he is the one that starts the press. He runs around, chases defenders down and puts goalkeepers under pressure. I think he will come in on that left-hand side and Harvey Barnes will be the one that makes way for him.

"For me, if Gordon is available then he has got to play."

Listen to the full conversation on BBC Sounds

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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St James' Park has been transformed. Sort of.

The Champions League logos have been splashed across the stadium for the first time in a couple of years.

And volunteers from the fan group Wor Flags have been in to prepare a huge display for tonight's game.

You can already sense the anticipation in the city.

Champions League openers do not come much bigger than Barcelona at home and there is a lot of history attached to this fixture, whether it is Tino Asprilla scoring a hat-trick against the Catalan giants in 1997 or Sir Bobby Robson managing both clubs.

Yet these are the occasions Newcastle United want to get used to - and this group have become a lot more accustomed to big games.

For context, this is the second time in three years that Newcastle have taken a seat at Europe's top table.

Captain Bruno Guimaraes said his side feel "stronger as a team" than in 2023 while head coach Eddie Howe made it clear that Newcastle "do not want to just to enjoy the experience but try and make it a meaningful one".

To do that, clearly, Newcastle are going to need to pick up results on their travels in Brussels, Leverkusen, Marseille and Paris in the coming months.

But tapping into a febrile atmosphere at St James' feels particularly crucial, too, starting on Thursday night.

Barcelona defender Andreas Christiansen certainly has an idea of what lies in wait, following his previous spell at Chelsea, and has prepared his manager, Hansi Flick.

"I was never here in this stadium," Flick said. "But what I heard from my players is it's one of the best, maybe the best atmosphere here in the Premier League."

The stage is set.

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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Keith Gillespie thought he was going out for dinner.

Only his nearest and dearest had other ideas, throwing the ex-Newcastle United winger a surprise 50th birthday party earlier this year.

And a special guest jetted in all the way from Colombia to be there.

"The doors opened and the first person I saw was Tino Asprilla," Gillespie said. "He was standing there waiting on me. It was quite surreal because he's somebody you don't expect to see in Bangor Golf Club.

"It was a lovely surprise. I was just made up that someone would actually make that effort to fly in for an evening."

It is now approaching three decades since the pair wreaked havoc for Newcastle against the mighty Barcelona.

But some friendships, clearly, stand the test of time.

"We clicked that night," Gillespie said.

Now, as Newcastle prepare to face the Catalan giants once again, Asprilla will be among those watching on at St James' Park on Thursday night.

Read about the aura of Asprilla

Manchester City are considering a shock move for Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo, but they are likely to face competition from Newcastle United and Chelsea for the 20-year-old midfielder. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Barcelona coach Hansi Flick is anticipating a tough game against Newcastle when the Champions League returns to St James' Park on Thursday night.

The Spanish champions are in town for gameweek one and Flick knows it will be a difficult challenge for his team to get off the perfect start.

"I expect a really strong team, a tall team with high intensity, dynamic and who win a lot of second balls," he told the assembled media. "Vertically they play really good.

"It is a team that has built over the last years. Eddie Howe and his coaching staff have done a fantastic job."

Barcelona may field on-loan Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford in their side with the England forward yet to get off the mark for his new side.

There is no doubt believes the 27-year-old can make a big impact in Spain.

"I always thought: 'Wow, what kind of player he is. Unbelievable'," Flick said of Rashford. "He has speed but his one against one situation is really fantastic and also his finishing is unbelievable.

"What I saw in the first weeks here is really good. He has some more potential he can show us and he wants to do this.

"It's great to have him in my team."

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Bruno Guimaraes says Newcastle's midfield is "one of the best in the Premier League", praising Sandro Tonali's influence on the side.

It is likely the Newcastle captain will start against Barcelona on Thursday alongside Italian midfielder Tonali as Champions League football returns to St James' Park.

"I enjoy playing at his side - I think we complete each other and he [is] enjoying playing with me as well," said the Brazil international. "We have a very good connection with each other. I think we have one of the best midfields in the Premier League to be honest and now we have to prove it in the Champions League as well."

Guimaraes and Tonali started in midfield for Newcastle's first Champions League home match in 20 years when they faced Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 and will be crucial to their hopes of another superb performance when they face the Spanish champions.

"The midfield does almost everything for the club as we have to attack, defend, build up, score goals, save goals on the line," he said. "As a team, everything goes through the midfield and it's nice to share the pitch with good players.

"I always look to make history with this club, it's nice to be in the Champions League two times in the last three [years].

"It's unbelievable for us so we have to keep going. A lot of the job to do here yet. We can't wait to play this game tomorrow and I'm very happy to be part of this club."

Marissa Thomas
BBC Sport journalist

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Champions League game against Barcelona at St James' Park (kick-off 20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On when Newcastle fans will see summer signing Yoane Wissa who has been out injured: "We hope Yoane will be back after the next international break. That's the plan."

• On his plans for forward Anthony Gordon in this game: "Anthony is an outstanding player and you can't have enough of those. We will look to utilise him. Whether that is from the start of the game, we will see. He brings pace to our forward line and a directness that you always need. It is an important season in his career and we look forward to helping him reach his very highest levels if we can."

• Howe said it was "a shame" that teenage sensation Lamine Yamal will not be playing for Barcelona because Newcastle will not get to "see him at his best."

• On facing Barcelona: "When we were drawn against Barcelona, it had a magical feel to it. I'm really excited to sample the atmosphere - I think it will be an incredible thing again. We will try to get a positive result and prepare the players for the game. I'm looking forward to how we match up against them and there is a lot of confidence restored after winning on Saturday."

• Howe also said Barcelona are a "very good technical team", who have "a lot of pace in wide areas" and "they are free-scoring".

• He added: "All of those things lead to us having to defend really well. We've started the season very well defensively so a continuation of that is going to be needed."

• On Newcastle's return to the Champions League: "The build-up is different to the Premier League and having done it before, that can help us again. The squad is arguably stronger - it has changed from two years ago and I back the quality that we have. The early games are really important because they set the tone and that's why we are really focusing on our performance to try and deliver a good one."

• On the league phase, Howe added: "During this season, we will have games where we don't perform as well but hopefully we will find a way to generate performances that will hopefully carry us through."

Listen to Newcastle v Barcelona on Thursday from 20:00 BST on BBC Sounds

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John Gibson from the Chronicle believes Thursday's Champions League match will be "extra special" and says the timing is "absolutely impeccable."

Speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle, he looked back fondly on the Magpies' memorable victory against their illustrious opponents but conceded it will be very difficult to match that success.

"It's nearly 28 years ago exactly when Newcastle won 3-2 against Barcelona in 1997," he said. "Barcelona are quality. Recently they've had a situation where Lewandowski and Rashford can't get in the side, they've been on the bench.

"They've got the greatest young kid who is going to dominate for the next 10 years [although] I'm not expecting him to play with this groin injury.

"A third of their side was out with injury over the weekend and they won 6-0. I'm not trying to frighten myself [because] we are good under the lights on those big occasions. We rise to the occasion.

"This prediction I'm going with my heart more than my head. I think a 2-2 draw. There'll be goals and I can't bring myself to forecast a defeat in a match as wonderful as this one."

Listen to the full clip on BBC Sounds

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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Eddie Howe needed no reminding.

"There are connections with Sir Bobby Robson that we fully embrace," the Newcastle United head coach said before Thursday's game against Barcelona. "That's what makes it such a special thing."

How fitting, then, that Sir Bobby's son, Mark, will be at St James' Park to see two of his father's former clubs meet in the Champions League.

"I wish Dad was alive to be there," he said. "He would love it."

These were the sorts of occasions Sir Bobby relished as a manager. Not only at Newcastle but Barcelona, too.

Sir Bobby walked into a divided city, following predecessor Johan Cruyff's departure, in 1996, but led Barcelona to the Cup Winners' Cup, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.

He later went on to manage Newcastle, his boyhood club, and took the black-and-whites from the relegation zone to Europe's top table.

"Dad had incredible toughness to fight cancer and take on jobs," Mark said. "I don't know how he did it."

His legacy lives on.

When Sir Bobby faced cancer for the fifth and final time, his oncologist, Professor Plummer, asked him if he knew anyone who could help raise £500,000 to equip a new cancer drug trials centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care in Newcastle.

Although Sir Bobby was gravely ill, he put himself forward to launch a charity in his name, referring to it as his last and greatest team.

The former England manager went on to officially open the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre in 2009.

Plans have now been submitted for an even more ambitious project, the Sir Bobby Robson Institute, a proposed £30m research and treatment facility.

Funded by the foundation, it would pioneer more ground-breaking innovation in cancer treatment and significantly increase the number of clinical trials available for patients across the North East, North Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

Supporters have already raised £20m and the charity is seeking the remaining £10m needed.

"The two worlds of medicine and sport are coming together and hopefully creating something quite special." Mark added.

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Winger Lamine Yamal is not part of Barcelona's squad for their Champions League match at Newcastle United on Thursday.

The 18-year-old missed his side's win against Valencia on Sunday with a groin issue after Barcelona manager Hansi Flick criticised the amount of time Yamal played for Spain during the international break.

Yamal played for his country for 79 minutes of a 3-0 win in Bulgaria on 4 September and 73 minutes of a 6-0 victory in Turkey three days later.

Barcelona beat Valencia 6-0 without him and have not selected the forward in their squad for their first game of this season's Champions League at St James' Park.

Spain left-back Alejandro Balde (hamstring) and Spain midfielder Gavi (knee) are also absent.

Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong also missed the Valencia game following international duty but is available for the Newcastle match.

Barcelona won La Liga last season and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League before losing to Inter Milan.

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) is "happy" the Magpies have cancelled more than 100 season tickets following an investigation into unauthorised reselling.

But Lisa Mole, the chair of the NUST, said it was "very disappointing" it had to happen after the club confirmed seats sold to tour organisers at St James' Park a decade ago were "not detected until recently".

It comes in the wake of a school nearly 200 miles away being able to buy tickets for the massively in-demand Champions League home game against Barcelona on Thursday.

The NUST had been "inundated with messages" from upset fans after 45 tickets for the match were snapped up by the High School of Dundee.

A spokesman for the school said they purchased them in good faith, after being "approached" by a provider, but the tickets were subsequently cancelled by the club.

Mole said they were "glad they had brought it to attention and it had been sorted", but she stressed that NUST would continue to "push for full transparency and make sure Newcastle United supporters are put first".

"We're happy that the club have taken action, people have been made accountable and the season tickets have been removed," she said. "But, at the same time, it's very disappointing that we're in a situation where this has even had to happen.

"These things shouldn't have been going on. It's 103 seats every single home game that have been going to people we would class as outside of the fanbase."

The club explained that third-party ticket provider agreements were terminated shortly after the takeover in 2021.

This included the deal agreed in the 2015-16 campaign with a small group of tour organisers "for the benefit of school groups" - but the club did not realise they were still selling tickets because there was no formal contract.

"At a time when we are doing our utmost to protect legitimate access for Newcastle United fans, we want to be fully transparent and apologise for this oversight," the club said.

Charlotte Robson
Fan writer

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Nick Woltemade, the man that you are. Thrown into our squad earlier than expected because of an injury Yoane Wissa picked up on international duty (perfect, ideal!) Woltemade provided the point person we needed going forward and ultimately won us our first game of the season. Happy days.

It was good to get a sense of him as a player in what will be a really important season for Newcastle. It helps, of course, that he scored but what I am jazzed about is what he can offer the team.

We saw him drop deep, collecting the ball and turning with it or linking up nicely with the midfield, showing himself to be a creative forward option for Newcastle.

Though we might have expected to see him develop in training for longer before he made a start for us, there was so much there on Saturday to be excited about.

We were specifically told his aerial threat was minimal, despite the fact that he is 6ft 6ins. Well, if his aerial threat is minimal then I am fine with that, given the powerful header he scored on Saturday after a lovely cross from Jacob Murphy. Fine by me.

I particularly like how happy he seemed to be; he seemed grateful to be playing in black and white. In long sleeves too, which earns him sartorial kudos.

In recent times I have lambasted Newcastle United for looking simply 'happy to be there' (see: the League Cup final 2023) but in the wake of the summer and players not being happy to be at Newcastle, I am choosing to find it charming.

This is a huge week for us as we host Barcelona on Thursday. I am pleased we go into it with a Premier League win under our belt and a little bit of confidence for our new striker.

Find more from Charlotte Robson at the True Faith: Newcastle United Podcast, external

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Chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions.

Jack asked: What stage do you think Newcastle will reach in the Champions League this season?

Phil answered: Newcastle United have some very tough games, starting with Barcelona on Thursday, and of course Marseille and holders Paris St-Germain away later in the league phase.

In between, they do have winnable games, so my prediction would be for Newcastle to reach the play-off stage - and then it's all to play for.

What is certain is that there will be some great nights on Tyneside.

I'm at St James' Park on Thursday for the Barcelona game and can't wait.

Follow Phil's Q&A and the rest of the day's football news on our daily live page

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Opta's supercomputer has ranked Newcastle as the 10th-most likely team to win this season's Champions League.

The model estimates the probability of each match outcome (win, draw or loss) by using betting market odds and Opta power rankings. Both these areas are based on historical and recent team performances and the computer runs 10,000 simulations to create its predictions.

Image source, Opta

Eddie Howe's side win the trophy in 3% of simulations on their return to the competition.

Their chances are ranked the same as Inter Milan's who have reached the final in two of the past three seasons.

Opta give the Magpies a 32.7% chance of reaching the quarter-finals and 15.9% chance of making the semi-finals.

They reach the final in 6.8% of simulations.

Newcastle will aim to improve on their most recent showing in 2023-24 when they exited in the group stage.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Newcastle and Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

Newcastle fans

George: After the first five minutes we dominated the game. Nick kept us in it and the midfield worked like Trojans. Tonali was relentless in his pursuit of the ball. Bring on Barca.

Cameron: Not much changed from our recent performances against Aston Villa and Liverpool - we just have a striker on the pitch who can finish instead of being sitting at home.

Andrew: Disjointed at times - Livramento superb and midfield team strong as ever. New striker looked lost despite scoring. Missed Gordon's pace.

Blue: A decent game made pretty tricky by Wolves. Tonali had yet another maestro performance and unlucky with his effort on goal. Woltemade impressed with his game and a debut goal to boot. Welcome to the Toon, Bonny Lad!

Wolves fans

Mike: Very poor performance. No cohesion between defence and attack. Too much defensive passing and, once again, sloppy passing. What would Wolves give for an attacking midfielder who is able to run at defences? The referee seemed to have a strange interpretation of tackling but some of the passes were asking for trouble. Unless things change, relegation is more probable than possible. Team weaker than last season.

Paul: A better performance, but the table doesn't lie. Selling your best players early and buying late in the window is a poor strategy. Vitor Pereira needs time to bed the new players up to speed.

Derk: Played well but, once again, can't score and can't defend. It's going to be a long season.

Tommy: Not sure how long VP can last. This is not totally on him but Jeff Shi has already hung him out to dry. Shi will sink us with his double talk. No decent players want to come to us - players have joined other clubs for less money. We are a mess top to bottom - no leaders, no British players and no clear gameplan.

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter at St James' Park

Bullet headers were not necessarily how Nick Woltemade made his name.

He may be 6ft 6in tall, but the German is not your typical target man.

"He's an unusual player," Eddie Howe said. "He's very distinctive. I think the more you watch him, the more you realise how different he is to the stereotypical size that he brings.

"[He's] very creative. We saw flashes of that today, little touches and passes that can really make a difference and open up a stubborn defensive line."

Digging deeper, this was an afternoon when Woltemade completed 89% of his passes.

One clever dink sent Harvey Barnes in down the left but the forward was flagged offside before Murphy put the ball in the net.

Match of the Day pundit Shay Given, who made 462 appearances for the club, was among those watching on, saying he was "interested to see the positions he takes up".

"There was a lot of talk before the game that he's more a number 10 than a nine," he said. "But I'm sure Eddie Howe and his staff will be saying 'Yeah, he's a good link-up player but with his size, you have to get the ball to him in the box."

Interestingly, none of Newcastle's starters had fewer touches than Woltemade (20), but he made his presence count where it mattered most.

Woltemade had five touches inside Wolves' box. One of them ended up winning the game for Newcastle.

Read more on Woltemade's debut

Pundits Ashley Williams and Shay Given join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Everton 0-0 Aston Villa

• Newcastle 1-0 Wolves

• West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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A goalscorer. That's what Newcastle had sorely lacked.

With Alexander Isak on strike, and no senior recognised forward available, Eddie Howe's side failed to score in two of their opening three games of the campaign, picking up just a couple of points in the process.

Enter Woltemade.

Newcastle would have ideally liked to ease Woltemade in, as the German had never played outside of his homeland before.

The club even brought in a proven Premier League forward in Yoane Wissa on deadline day to help share the burden following Isak's British record move to Liverpool.

But Wissa suffered a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo, so head coach Howe had little option but to throw Woltemade in from the off against Wolves – just a few days after he trained with his new team-mates for the first time.

He quickly made an impact.

Woltemade is not a traditional target man – the 6ft 6in is a technician capable of wriggling out of tight spaces and linking play – but the debutant opened his account with a classic number nine's goal.

Jacob Murphy, who laid on so many goals for Isak last season, delivered a ball into the box, and the new arrival provided the scoring header.

It was the cue for the home support to break out into a chant of: "Woltemade, Woltemade, ole, ole, ole."

And they were later on their feet to give him a standing ovation after he was replaced by William Osula midway through the second half.

Forwards are revered in these parts and it looks as if Woltemade has already been embraced by Newcastle fans.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe spoke to BBC Sport after their victory over Wolves: "I thought we played pretty well after the first five minutes. The fact we haven't won a game puts more pressure on you in the latter stages.

"The win was all that mattered but we'd love to win in a better style and score more goals. We're defending well as a team.

"It was great to see Nick [Woltemade] score on his debut. Very strong, I was very pleased with him. Tactically he understood what we wanted. It was a shift for him, he had cramp at the end. He took his goal brilliantly.

"I didn't see much wrong with the team performance at all. I was really pleased with the commitment of the players."

On whether Woltemade and Yoane Wissa can play together: "It's something we can do and we'll look at. I don't know if we want to change the tactical framework too much but I'll never rule anything out."

Did you know?

• Since the start of the 2024-25 season, only Mohamed Salah (19) has more open play assists in the Premier League than Newcastle's Jacob Murphy (12).

Hear more from Howe on BBC Sounds

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