Newcastle told key man can exploit Barcelona weakness in Champions League
Newcastle can still thrive in the Champions League, and Anthony Gordon is the secret to their success against Barcelona.
That’s according to European football journalist Andy Brassell, who believes the Magpies’ best chance of victory will come by starting their talisman as a striker against the LaLiga giants.
After a disappointing FA Cup exit to Manchester City, Eddie Howe’s side have an immediate chance to inject life back into their season.
Newcastle welcome five-time European champions Barca to St James’ Park in the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday night.
With nine games remaining of the Premier League season, the Toon Army currently sit 12th in the table, nine points adrift of the top five – likely to be the cut-off point for Champions League qualification.
This places added importance on the upcoming European tie, as they look to salvage a disappointing season with a huge result.
Secret weapon?
Ahead of Newcastle’s crunch clash with Barcelona, Howe has been urged to start wide man Gordon as a central striker.
With summer signings Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa struggling to fill the void made by Alexander Isak’s departure, the 25-year-old has been called upon to lead the line at various points this term.
Despite being a winger by trade, Gordon leads the goalscoring charts for his team in all competitions – notching 15 altogether.
He has delivered when playing centrally in Europe, scoring five times in his three starts in the role – including four in Newcastle’s round of 16 play-off first leg against Qarabag
European football expert Brassell was quick to point this out, who claimed a positional change for Gordon is the Magpies’ best bet.
He told talkSPORT’s Trans Europe Express: “The interesting thing at the moment is their Gala team doesn’t include either Nick Woltemade or Yoane Wissa, which is something that would have been unthinkable at the start of the season.
“But I said before the last games against Qarabag, this would be the way forward for them in the Champions League, and not just because of the goals that Anthony Gordon has scored this season, but because of taking advantage of high lines.”
‘He could be quite effective’
Stating his case for Gordon to be converted into a number 9, Brassell claimed this would have been Howe’s long-term plan anyway, but that recent circumstances have accelerated the need for this.
Newcastle have struggled for goals lately, with £69million man Woltemade netting just once in 2026, despite notching 10 overall.
The German’s form has drawn huge criticism, most notably from talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, and Brassell insisted the Magpies have been given no choice but to find a solution.
He continued: “It seems to me that Eddie Howe, in terms of what Newcastle were going to be in the medium term, he’s kicked the can down the road a little bit and thought: ‘Well, Gordon is scoring these goals in the Champions League’.
“He didn’t look like scoring earlier in the season when he didn’t look anything like a proper centre forward really.
“He’s still not a proper centre forward, but I think he could be quite effective.”
The upcoming European first-leg will be the second time Newcastle and Barcelona have met this term.
In the competition’s league phase, Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford netted a superb double to seal the Spanish side a 2-1 win at St James’ Park in September.
But with Gordon’s pace and directness his main attributes, Brassell insisted he possesses the exact traits to trouble Barca’s high defensive line.
The European football expert explained: “I think he can be quite effective like that against Barcelona.
“We said in that game [Barcelona’s last match] against Athletic Bilbao this weekend, they will always, always play with that high line.
“I mean, we talked about Barcelona being sensible and managing their way to a 1-0 win. And sure, Cancelo nearly scored an own goal after 19 seconds, but, this is them playing it sensibly.
“So I do think a team like Newcastle will create opportunities. It’s just whether they can take those opportunities, because you can bet your last euro that Ferran [Torres] and [Lamine] Yamal and Raphinha, who was left out for Marcus Rashford for a reason this weekend, will make a massive difference in this game.
“Because, of course, these teams have been able to size each other up from that time they played in the league phase.
“And I think they’re probably in broadly similar positions, actually.”
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