Newcastle vs Barcelona: Eddie Howe wants the players to be talked about like the victors in 1997

Manager Eddie Howe challenged the Newcastle United players to seize the opportunity and follow in the footsteps of the team that defeated Barcelona in 1997.

Newcastle will meet Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 at St. James Park on Tuesday evening.

The match stirs up memories of Tino Asprilla’s hat-trick and the night Newcastle stunned the La Liga giants in the old group stage.

Howe was a Bournemouth player at the time, but was among the millions who watched the 3-2 win from afar.

“You can’t not watch that game,” he said. “It was shown on terrestrial television. It was one of those legendary games.

“You want people in the coming years to be talking about this team. Tino Asprilla scored a hat-trick, two of them from Keith Gillespie’s pass on the right flank.

“I want our players to be talked about the same way in 20, 30 or 40 years.”

The two current clubs met in the league stage last September on the night of Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat on Tyneside.

However, Howe took positives from that loss, describing this rematch as the “biggest game” in the club’s recent history as he looks to lead Newcastle to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time ever.

“It’s an opportunity to seize a moment that we may never get again,” he added. “You never know what life brings tomorrow, let alone future seasons.

“We don’t want to miss this opportunity. We don’t want to kick ourselves or think: What if?”