Champions League
2026-03-10 - Newcastle United vs Barcelona
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Last 16 First Leg
Tuesday 10th March 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Newcastle United
Another route to silverware was shut down emphatically by Manchester City and it is a reminder to Newcastle United fans of how much of a gap there still is between themselves and the very top teams in England. The pressure will begin to ramp up on Eddie Howe with Newcastle United in mid-table in the Premier League and missing out on European Football would be a significant financial blow.
They are still active in the Champions League after Newcastle United comfortably swept aside Qarabag in the Knock Out Play Off Round, but this is a much tougher challenge all around. The Magpies may have been placed in the 'weaker half' of the Knock Out bracket, but the Last 16 tie will be incredibly difficult to negotiate even if Newcastle United have won 4 of the 5 home Champions League games played this season.
Newcastle United have really been struggling for consistency as a squad stretched by injury is perhaps not running quite as quickly as they would have been with a full selection available. The defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup Fifth Round means Newcastle United have lost 4 of the last 5 at St James' Park and they have conceded at least twice in each defeat.
Eddie Howe did make one or two changes to the starting eleven for the FA Cup defeat on Saturday and he does have Jacob Ramsey available after a suspension. Bruno Guimaraes continues to be a big miss.
Barcelona
Eleven games remain in the Spanish top flight, but Barcelona fans will be feeling confident of their chances of winning the title having moved 4 points clear of rivals Real Madrid. The draw for the Champions League looks to have worked in their favour as well and Barcelona will be thinking about reaching the Final in this competition for the first time since winning it in 2015.
Last season Barcelona came up agonisingly short in the Semi Final defeat to Inter Milan, but they will not want to look too far ahead this time around and the focus has to be on the Last 16 tie. They finished 5th in the League Phase portion of the Champions League and Barcelona had a mixed 2-1-1 away record where they had scored and conceded 9 goals.
Barcelona do not settle for draws and there has not been a stalemate in any of the last 27 games in all competitions- the real confidence comes from the fact that Barcelona have won 23 of those fixtures, including the last 4 in a row. They had lost consecutive away games at Atletico Madrid and Girona, but Barcelona ended that run by battling to a 0-1 win at Athletic Bilbao most recently.
Marc Bernal should overcome an illness to travel with the squad, but there are some key players missing for Barcelona, including Jules Kounde and Frankie de Jong. Marcus Rashford did score twice here in a League Phase win, but may have to settle for being a substitute.
Head to Head
The Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford scored two second half goals to help Barcelona to a 1-2 win at St James' Park earlier this season.
This will be the fourth visit to St James' Park and Barcelona have won the last 2 since famously losing 3-2 in 1997.
Prediction
Once again you have to state that most European clubs are pretty intimidated by what they see as the power of the English Premier League, but Spanish League leaders Barcelona will believe they can match any club side they face in the Champions League or domestically.
They have already experienced playing at St James' Park, which has to be a huge help, and Barcelona came away with a 1-2 win here in the League Phase of the competition. They have since been beaten 3-0 at Chelsea, but Barcelona will believe the current Newcastle United squad is not in the same vibrant mindset and that gives them a real edge in the tie.
Winning in the North East is not easy, but Newcastle United have been struggling here in recent weeks.
Eddie Howe's team have been conceding far too many goals and teams have created some big openings against them, which was evident again on Saturday when losing 1-3 to Manchester City. That is the third time in four home games that Newcastle United have conceded at least three goals and it is going to be difficult to contain the attacking threat that Barcelona will pose.
A high defensive line has left Barcelona vulnerable at times and that is something that Newcastle United will feel they can exploit with the pace they have in the attacking third.
However, it is going to be a fixture that is likely dominated through possession by Barcelona and there looks to be a few more options available to the visiting side.
Bruno Guimaraes continues to be a big absentee for the home team and Barcelona may begin to take control of this First Leg in the second half, much as they did when visiting here back in September.
Newcastle United are capable of playing their part, but Barcelona look a big price to win here considering they have already done so once this season. Recent form has just seen Barcelona build up some real momentum and that may end up showing up on Tuesday night in what should be a raucous atmosphere generated by The Toon Army.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona
