Barcelona duo banned for Newcastle clash - and 4 others could also miss out

Champions League nights under the lights return to St James’ Park on Thursday, and there perhaps couldn’t be a bigger game to kick off our campaign than against Barcelona.

It’s a tie with plenty of history of course, and if we get a game even half as dramatic as that 3-2 win back in 1997, then we should be in for an absolute treat.

One thing we do know for certain however is that the Catalan giants will be without some big, influential names both on the pitch and on the touchline, potentially giving us an advantage before a ball is even kicked.

Barca duo OUT and Yamal at risk

In terms of players, we know for certain that left back Alejandro Balde will miss next Thursday’s game as a result of a hamstring injury that has ruled him out until October. Midfielders Gavi and Frenkie de Jong both face their own injury woes, while star man Lamine Yamal faces a race against time to be fit.

And in potentially even better news, Hansi Flick will miss FC Barcelona’s UCL opener against Newcastle at St James' Park, along with his assistant Marcus Sorg.

Both the boss and his right-hand man are serving a suspension carried over from last season's semi-final against Inter Milan, where Barca were knocked out at the San Siro.

As a result of their absence, it’s expected that one of Arnau Blanco or Toni Tapalovic will take charge on the sidelines for the game.

Barcelona's form so far this season

Heading into this season’s campaign as the fifth favourites to go onto to lift the trophy (behind Liverpool, PSG, Arsenal and Man City respectively) playing this free scoring Barcelona side is a terrifying prospect to teams across the continent.

It’s been a pretty strong start to the domestic season for the Blaugrana: sat in 2nd place with 10 points from their first four games.

They only managed a 1-1 draw to Rayo Vallecano, and needed a stoppage time own goal to edge past Levante, but they battered Valencia 6-0 on Sunday despite Lewandowski and Raphinha being on the bench to begin with.