It's 25 years since one of the greatest games ever seen at St James' Park - a spectacle which arguably marked the high-point of Newcastle United's thrilling 1990s football adventure.
On the evening of September 17, 1997, the Magpies played host to mighty Barcelona in the Champions’ League in a match beamed live around the world on television. United had a respectable enough European pedigree, having lifted the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup back in 1969, and having claimed major scalps in that competition and its successor the UEFA Cup - but this was a different ball game.
A decade before the emergence of Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side that was lit up by the sublime skills of Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta, the 1997 Barca could pack a mighty punch of its own, featuring the likes of Brazilian superstar Rivaldo and Portuguese winger Luis Figo. Guardiola the player, a world-class midfielder for Barcelona and Spain at the time, missed the trip to Tyneside because of injury.
