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‘Bring it on’ – Newcastle’s message to Chelsea and BarcelonaImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Newcastle United are just the third English team to score nine or more goals in a Uefa Champions League knockout stage tieByCiaran Kelly
Jacob Murphy did not think twice.
The Newcastle United winger had just been asked whether he wanted Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League.
“Anyone,” he immediately responded on Amazon Prime after his side beat Qarabag 3-2 to secure a dominant 9-3 win on aggregate.
“Honestly, with this group of players, we will take anyone on. Especially with knockout football, we back ourselves. Bring on whoever’s to come.”
It was a mindset shared by his manager.
Newcastle have achieved their initial target of reaching the next round, but head coach Eddie Howe does not want his side’s journey to end yet.
He believes his team can “raise our game and compete with anybody”.
“We have to believe in ourselves,” he reported. “We have seen the best of ourselves when we have gone into cup games and one-off games, where we have been able to rise to whatever challenge we have had in front of us.
“We will have to go in with that mindset again, whoever we get in the next round.”
Howe ready for last 16 challenge
Newcastle are certainly enjoying life back at Europe’s top table.
Howe’s side are the top scorers in the Champions League with 26 goals, and have won six games in a single campaign in the competition for the first time.
It has been quite a turnaround in the last two-and-a-half weeks.
Howe was the first to admit he was not doing his job “well enough” after his side were booed off by a section of supporters following a 3-2 defeat against Brentford in the Premier League in their previous game at St James’ Park earlier this month.
The Newcastle head coach embarked on some soul searching in the aftermath of the loss, while his players set out to “fight for the manager”.
Newcastle have won four of their last five games in all competitions since, and secured a place in the knockout stage proper.
Given the revenue gap between the Premier League and a number of clubs on the continent, and the competitiveness of the top-flight, outsiders may question whether that should necessarily come as a huge surprise.
Even beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur, who are hovering above the relegation zone in the Premier League, finished in the top eight of the league phase.
Yet the manner of Newcastle’s six Champions League victories against Qarabag, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Athletic Club and Union Saint-Gilloise were far from foregone conclusions.
Qarabag, for instance, had drawn against Chelsea and defeated Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and Copenhagen. Newcastle hammered the Azerbaijan Premier League champions.
Although Howe wanted more from his much-changed side in the 3-2 second-leg win on Tuesday night, Newcastle have shown they can battle the continent’s elite on their day.
Newcastle drew 1-1 against holders Paris St-Germain in the French capital last month and suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in their opening game of the competition.
No wonder, then, defender Dan Burn feels Newcastle can “compete with anybody” at their best.
“We’ve shown that, especially against Paris St-Germain, how good we can be,” he wrote in his programme notes.
“I think we elevate our game going into those games because there are bigger, better teams at this stage of the competition.”
Newcastle have a lot of work to do in the Premier League, where they currently lie in 11th place.
But they are no longer stargazed by life in the Champions League.
Even playing in the opening round of the competition was a new experience for the majority of those at the club last time around.
This was a stage these players dreamed of playing on – nothing reported that quite like Murphy’s wide-eyed wonder as he lined up for the Champions League anthem for the first time at the San Siro in 2023 – but they now feel like they belong.
Not only are the squad able to draw on the experiences of their last campaign, when they faced Paris St-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in the group of death, they have also accumulated big-game experiences in the interim. This includes, of course, ending a 70-year wait to win a major domestic trophy by beating Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final last March.
That is why Friday’s last 16 draw will bring eager anticipation rather than trepidation as former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle knows better than most.
“Knowing all of the boys in the dressing room, they will be excited about who they get in the next round,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“They will buzz off someone like Barcelona and that will create an unbelievable tie. To continue this run is perfect for them and they will be hungry for more.”
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