Newcastle are running on fumes… now for Barcelona in Champions League

Not being overwhelmed has been the key since Newcastle entered their busiest spell yet, containing a sequence of fixtures that they can barely cope with. In January they played eight games in 24 days. It was the same in February, another eight in 24 days, or a game every three days.

The present run is six games in 18 days — including a Tyne-Wear derby they dare not lose — and Howe cranked up the dial before the Barcelona home game by calling it the biggest in the club’s history on Saturday night. He only slightly qualified that by changing it to “recent history” on the eve of Newcastle’s first Champions League knockout tie.

“It’s an opportunity to grab a moment that we may never get again,” Howe said. “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. In my time here, just over four years, we have worked to get to this point. As long as we perform to our maximum, I will accept the result. We want to try to get as close as we can to our very best. There are only 16 teams left and we are one of them.”

Putting energy back into his team will be one of his biggest challenges. Newcastle started well against City and then ran out of legs. They did the same against Barcelona in a 2-1 league-phase loss in September.

For comparison with this congested season, the 2022-23 campaign in which they finished fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years — Howe’s first full season in charge at St James’ Park — contained 40 games.

This present squad — falling to bits and with the 35-year-old Kieran Trippier forced to start every game because there has not been another right back in the club for months — will have played almost half a season more by the time the finish line comes in May.

Of the top-flight players who have appeared in the most games across all competitions this season, Newcastle have the leading four, led by Harvey Barnes on 46. No one has played more minutes than Malick Thiaw — in his first season in the country — with 3,705.

“It’s not been easy,” Howe said. “It’s not been a perfect season for us but their attitude to it all has been really good. The players are doing OK. The players have taken that workload on and the consistency of it really well.

“We are going to need a big, big physical effort [against Barcelona]. It’s another short turnaround after a really big game against Manchester City where we had a lot of running to do, so it wasn’t ideal preparation for this one but no excuses. The players will be ready.”

Lewis Hall has started eight of Newcastle’s past ten games and come on as a substitute in the other two. “It’s obviously really difficult physically, mentally as well,” he said. “But it can also be a positive. If you’re winning games, it’s quite easy to maintain that momentum. Obviously it’s physically incredibly challenging, having to go again and again sometimes

“If you do lose a game, the next game can come around quickly so that you can sort of get that bad result or bad performance out of your system and start fresh.”

For Hall on Tuesday, there is the small matter of taking care of the best young player in the world, Lamine Yamal, 18, who did not play when the teams met in the league phase.

“It goes without saying he’s a special talent,” Hall added. “I’ve seen him play in enough Champions League games. I know what he’s about. For me, I want to test myself against the best players in the world.

“If you’re going on to a football pitch fearing or worrying about anything, that already puts you on the back foot. Self-belief is an important thing because if you don’t believe in yourself, then it makes it hard for anyone else to do so.”

Newcastle’s season rests on these two games. Inevitably, facing Barcelona at St James’ Park prompts memories of the 3-2 victory in 1997 and the phenomenal atmosphere the stadium generated.

“This is an amazing football club, full of incredible people, and we are going to need every single person who enters the stadium on Tuesday to try to make the difference for us,” Howe said.

“There is a reason it was the best atmosphere and that is because the team played so well [in 1997] and scored three goals. The team gave the crowd what it needed. That’s what we have to do.

“The atmosphere was incredible against Barcelona [in the league phase]. It was red-hot. I know the crowd will be there when needed to help us.”

Newcastle United v Barcelona

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