Barcelona star who complemented Newcastle United fans will miss Champions League knock-out tie
Newcastle United will take on Barcelona once again in this season's Champions League campaign after already having faced the Spanish side in the league phase of the competition.
The Magpies got their Champions League adventure underway with a narrow defeat to Barcelona at St James' Park earlier this season.
Newcastle had every right to feel proud of themselves after that game as they gave the La Liga side a good run for their money and on another night, could have bagged the win.
This month they will get two more goes at the Spanish side, having been drawn against them in the Round of 16, with the first leg to be played at St James' Park on Tuesday 10th March with an 8pm kick-off.
Frenkie De Jong will miss both legs for Barcelona
Barcelona will be without midfielder Frenkie De Jong for that game and the return leg a week later with the star ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
De Jong will obviously be disappointed not to be involved in any games while he's injured, but the Dutchman may feel particularly aggrieved to be missing the game at St James' Park following his comments after the game in September (h/t NUFC Blog).
“The atmosphere was incredible, truly beautiful. They’re true football fans. They react to football moments and showed so much emotion. That was great to see.”
Lamine Yamal will be available for Barcelona this time
On the flip side, though, Lamine Yamal, the wonderkid dubbed the best young player in the world, will be available for Barcelona after he missed the league phase game.
In that game, it was Marcus Rashford who made all the difference, and while he can still be a threat, the prospect of having to deal with Lamine Yamal is pretty terrifying.
However, Newcastle have been able to raise their game for the Champions League and I wouldn't be too quick to count us out just yet.
