Eddie Howe has challenged his players to write themselves into Newcastle’s history alongside Tino Asprilla and his team-mates as they prepare for their Champions League showdown with Barcelona.
In September 1997, Colombian international Asprilla scored a hat-trick as the Magpies defeated the Spanish side 3-2 in the same competition in a game which is spoken of in reverent tones on Tyneside to this day.
Howe was a 19-year-old trying to make his way at Bournemouth at the time but remembers the game well and knows the place in holds in the hearts of both those who witnessed it and subsequent generations.
“You couldn’t not watch that game,” he said ahead of Tuesday’s game. “It was on terrestrial television. It was one of those legendary games.
“You want people in future years to be talking about this team. Tino Asprilla gets the hat-trick, a couple of them from Keith Gillespie’s delivery on the right. I want our players to be talked about in the same way, 20, 30, 40 years later.”
Tino Asprilla’s hat-trick against Barcelona in 1997 remains one of the most talked about moments in Newcastle United’s recent history. Credit: PA
In the wake of Saturday night’s FA Cup fifth-round exit at the hands of Manchester City, Howe described Barcelona’s second visit to Tyneside this season – they won 2-1 in the opening game of the group phase in September thanks to Marcus Rashford’s double – as “the biggest game in the club’s history”.
Asked if that was a reflection of the romanticism surrounding the fixture, the 48-year-old said: “To a point, yes. But there are also only 16 teams left and we’re one of them.
“It’s an opportunity to grab a moment that we may never get again. You never know what life brings tomorrow, let alone future seasons. We don’t want to waste that opportunity. We don’t want to kick ourselves or think, ‘What if?’. This is a moment for us to grab.”
Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier during a training session ahead of their match against Barcelona. Credit: PA
Newcastle, who head for the Nou Camp next Wednesday, reached the last 16 in European club football’s premier competition during the 2002-03 campaign, when there were two group stages, but have never before played in the knockout rounds and would create a new first if they made it to the quarter-finals.
Howe said: “We’re going to need to break new ground in terms of performance level, so if there’s a time for us to be at our absolute best, it’s in these two games.”
If they are to do that, they may need left-back Lewis Hall to be at his absolute best to keep a tight rein on Lamine Yamal, although he is far from fazed by the prospect. The teenage winger was injured for the game between the sides earlier in the season but is fully fit for the round of 16.
“I think it goes without saying he’s obviously a special talent,” Hall said. “I’ve seen him play in enough Champions League games. I know what he’s about. So for me, if I was to be selected, I’d be really looking forward to it.
“I want to test myself against the best players in the world and there’s no better opportunity to do so than the game tomorrow.”
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