Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has laid down the gauntlet for his side ahead of the match against Barcelona in the Champions League, emphasising that he wants his team to “break new ground” this season.
The Magpies have reached the last 16 of the Champions League for just the second time – though under a different format in 2002/03 – and Howe previously called this week’s match “the biggest game in the club’s history”.
And while his players exited the FA Cup at the hands of Manchester City at the weekend, they still have the chance to make history over the next week as they chase a maiden Champions League trophy.
Nevertheless, the Magpies will be underdogs against Barcelona, especially considering the second leg will be played at the Camp Nou, and while the scale of the task at hand is not lost on Howe, he emphasised that “rising to the occasion and embracing the size of the game has helped us” in the past.
“I want the club to break new ground and to keep going in this competition having worked so hard to get here,” he explained.
“We are going to need to break new ground in terms of performance levels and when we need to perform, there is no better time than these two games.
“There's only 16 teams left and we are one of them. We don't want to waste that opportunity and this is a moment for us to grab it. Over my time of four years, we have worked really hard to get to this point,” he added.
The Magpies will be missing key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes until next month, though defender Tino Livramento could feature after making a return to training.
“He probably hasn't done enough training to be 100 per cent confident he is in a physical enough state to start,” Howe said.
“It's a delicate balance but he trained again this morning, he trained on Friday and it's a massive boost for us to have him back,” he added.
Howe also provided an illness update for his squad ahead of the game, after Anthony Gordon, Joelinton and Jacob Murphy were all benched ahead of the loss to City.
“No fresh injuries but we have a little bit of illness in the camp. Hopefully we will have everyone available tomorrow,” said Howe.
Newcastle take on Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League tie at St James’ Park on Tuesday, 10 March, before the return leg is played at the Camp Nou next week on Wednesday, 18 March at 5.45pm GMT.
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