Newcastle United vs FC Barcelona
Competition/Round: 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16, 1st Leg
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Alejando Balde, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Jules Kounde (out)
Newcastle Outs & Doubts: Fabian Schär, Emil Krafth, Bruno Guimarães, Lewis Miley (out), Tino Livramento (doubt)
Barcelona Form Guide: LWWWW
Newcastle Form Guide: LWLWL
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 4pm ET, 1pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: St. James’ Park, Newcastle,
England
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
VAR: Daniele Chiffi (ITA)
How to watch on TV: TUDN (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: Paramount+ (USA), Amazon Prime Video (UK), Sony LIV (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a hard-fought but crucial win over Athletic Club at the weekend to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the La Liga table, Barcelona turn their attentions to European matters as the Catalans travel to England for a massive Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night.
Barça come into this one looking for a solid result to take back home ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg at Camp Nou, and the Blaugrana arrive in excellent form having won four straight games and keeping three clean sheets in the process. The awful losses of Atlético Madrid and Girona truly feel like a momentary blip and a four-day nightmare, and the performances and results since have been a lot more indicative of this team’s quality and ability to compete at the highest level.
Now they have to do something they haven’t done all season: play a truly great game in Europe. Barça had a very inconsistent League Phase despite a fifth-place finish in the standings, and the closest thing to a great performance out of all eight of their games in the initial stage was on opening night against… Newcastle.
The Catalans visited St. James’ Park back in September without Lamine Yamal and struggled in the first half, allowing a couple of dangerous counter-attacks to a Newcastle side that didn’t have their finishing boots on that night. The Blaugrana survived a few scares but eventually took control, with Pedri and Frenkie de Jong earning some high praise from the English press after dominating midfield all by themselves. The star of the show, though, was Marcus Rashford, who announced himself as a Barça player with two outstanding goals.
Barça weren’t exactly at their best that night, but it was still a very solid, professional, mature performance. The visitors handled the incredible atmosphere of Newcastle’s home stadium, knew when to suffer and when to take control, and were very clinical to take their chances and escape a very hostile away test with a big win.
That is absolutely the formula to once again get a good result at St. James’ Park, but they should expect an even crazier atmosphere this time. This will be Newcastle’s first-ever Champions League Round of 16 match, and the fans will be in rare form. Eddie Howe’s side are very strong at home, and they’ll feed off the energy of the crowd like never before to try and suffocate Barça with their high pressing.
Bruno Guimarães will not play either leg of this tie due to injury and is a giant absence in midfield for the hosts, but Sandro Tonali has stepped up big time and Howe’s tactical changes have made Newcastle even more direct and dangerous up front.
Anthony Gordon is now the full-time striker and is an absolute nightmare with his pace, and Nick Woltemade has been effective as a number 10 despite not scoring much recently. Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga bring plenty of speed and quality final product on the wings, and they remain a huge set piece threat with the likes of Woltemade, Joelinton, Malick Thiaw and Dan Burn.
Frenkie de Jong’s absence is a huge deal and young Marc Bernal, who’s expected to start alongside Pedri in midfield, will face a huge test of his ability to control the game in midfield. Ronald Araujo, Gerard Martín and Robert Lewandowski are all expected to start to add some height and power to deal with Newcastle’s aerial threat, but Barça’s chances of getting a result really come down to Lamine Yamal and Raphinha: the teenager has been in remarkable form in 2026, and the Brazilian will be looking to recapture the magic of last season’s European run when he was by far and away the best player in the Champions League knockout stages.
Newcastle didn’t get to face Yamal in the first meeting, and their plan to deal with the teenager will be fascinating to watch. If Lamine can attract enough attention to open things up elsewhere, then Raphinha and Co. will have plenty of opportunities to affect the game and help Barça earn a good result. This is knockout football and getting a draw on the road, especially at such a tough place as St. James’ Park, is absolutely valuable.
Barça will and should play to win, but managing the game and avoiding silly mistakes should be the number one priority. The last four games have featured a strong variety of quality attacking football, great mentality and resilience, and a ton of maturity and football intelligence. If Barça can show all of that again on the same night, they will bring a good advantage back to Camp Nou.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Eric, Araujo, Cubarsí, Martín; Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Fermín, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Joelinton; Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes; Gordon
PREDICTION
Barça already know what St. James’ Park will feel like and have a positive experience from the first meeting, but they should be ready for an even tougher test this time. Newcastle know that winning the first leg is their best chance of pulling off the upset, so the Catalans must be ready to suffer and be smart and clinical in attack to score enough goals to bring a good result back home: 2-2 draw.
