2 months ago
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Eddie Howe has urged his players to go Newcastle legends by emulating the club's celebrated 1997 Champions League triumph implicit Barcelona erstwhile they look the Spanish giants successful the last-16 archetypal leg.
Newcastle big the La Liga leaders connected Tuesday (March 10, 2026) successful a perchance life-changing infinitesimal for Howe's side.
Fans inactive speech successful reverential tones astir Faustino Asprilla's hat-trick and Keith Gillespie's superb show successful the Magpies' 3-2 triumph implicit Barca successful the Champions League radical signifier 29 years ago.
Howe, past starting his playing vocation astatine Bournemouth, watched that singular lucifer connected tv arsenic a teenager.
Now Howe and institution person a accidental to etch their ain names successful the annals of Newcastle past by defeating Hansi Flick's star-studded team.
"Yes I watched the game. I was precise focused connected my playing career. But you couldn't not ticker that moment. It was 1 of those legendary games," Howe told reporters connected Monday (March 9, 2026).
"Of people we privation radical successful aboriginal years to beryllium talking astir this team. Tino Asprilla gets a hat-trick from those Keith Gillespie deliveries connected the right. "I'd privation our players to beryllium talked astir the aforesaid mode successful 20 oregon 30 years."
Newcastle person made it to the Champions League past 16 for lone the 2nd time.
Howe is good alert of the magnitude of the accomplishment aft helium arrived astatine Newcastle successful 2021 with the nine successful disarray.
Together with the fiscal musculus provided by Newcastle's Saudi owners, Howe has transformed the nine from laughing banal status.
'A infinitesimal for america to grab'
Newcastle won their archetypal trophy successful 56 years erstwhile they shocked Liverpool successful the League Cup last past season.
Beating Barcelona would beryllium an adjacent greater feat for Howe, who urged his players to prehend what could beryllium a erstwhile successful a beingness opportunity.
"There are lone 16 teams near and we are 1 of them. It is precise overmuch an accidental to drawback a infinitesimal that we whitethorn ne'er get again. You don't cognize what beingness brings tomorrow, fto unsocial aboriginal seasons," Howe said.
"We don't privation to footwear ourselves, we don't privation to discarded the accidental and deliberation what ifs.
"So this is simply a infinitesimal for america to grab. In my clip here, conscionable implicit 4 years, we person worked to get to this point.
"As agelong arsenic we execute to our maximum we person to judge the result."
Having labelled the Barca crippled arsenic the biggest lucifer successful Newcastle's history, Howe said adopting an underdog mentality could assistance stun the five-time European champions.
"That's precise overmuch the mentality we need, rising to the occasion, embracing the size of the game," helium said. "The underdog relation to a grade successful my clip present has helped america successful my clip here, erstwhile we person been successful that concern erstwhile we felt the likelihood were stacked against us.
"We are going to request to usage each intelligence instrumentality due to the fact that there's nary denying we are playing a precise bully team, an outstandingly good coached team. "All our Champions League games person been a large rehearsal for this moment."
Newcastle person already faced Barca this season, losing 2-1 astatine location successful the radical signifier acknowledgment to a Marcus Rashford double.
"When you are playing the precise champion teams you instrumentality a batch of that with you going forward," Howe said. "We tin instrumentality a batch from the performance. Hopefully we tin larn lessons from that tie."
