Jacob Murphy didn’t suppose twice.
The Newcastle United winger had simply been requested whether or not he wished Barcelona or Chelsea within the final 16 of the Champions League.
“Anybody,” he instantly responded on Amazon Prime after his facet to safe a dominant 9-3 win on combination.
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“Truthfully, with this group of gamers, we’ll take anybody on. Particularly with knockout soccer, we again ourselves. Deliver on whoever’s to return.”
It was a mindset shared by his supervisor.
Newcastle have achieved their preliminary goal of reaching the subsequent spherical, however head coach Eddie Howe doesn’t need his facet’s journey to finish but.
He believes his crew can “increase our recreation and compete with anyone”.
“We have now to imagine in ourselves,” he mentioned. “We have now seen the most effective of ourselves when we’ve gone into cup video games and one-off video games, the place we’ve been capable of rise to no matter problem we’ve had in entrance of us.
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“We should go in with that mindset once more, whoever we get within the subsequent spherical.”
Relishing the brand new format
Newcastle are actually having fun with life again at Europe’s prime desk.
Howe’s facet are the highest scorers within the Champions League with 26 targets, and have received six video games in a single marketing campaign within the competitors for the primary time.
It has been fairly a turnaround within the final two-and-a-half weeks.
Howe was the primary to confess he was not doing his job “effectively sufficient” after his facet had been booed off by a piece of supporters following a 3-2 defeat in opposition to Brentford within the Premier League of their earlier recreation at St James’ Park earlier this month.
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The Newcastle head coach launched into some soul looking out within the aftermath of the loss, whereas his gamers got down to “struggle for the supervisor”.
Newcastle have received 4 of their final 5 video games in all competitions since, and secured a spot within the knockout stage correct.
Given the income hole between the Premier League and various golf equipment on the continent, and the competitiveness of the top-flight, outsiders might query whether or not that ought to essentially come as an enormous shock.
Even beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur, who’re hovering above the relegation zone within the Premier League, completed within the prime eight of the league section.
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But the way of Newcastle’s six Champions League victories in opposition to Qarabag, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Athletic Membership and Union Saint-Gilloise had been removed from foregone conclusions.
Qarabag, as an example, had drawn in opposition to Chelsea and defeated Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and Copenhagen. Newcastle hammered the Azerbaijan Premier League champions.
Though Howe wished extra from his much-changed facet within the 3-2 second-leg win on Tuesday night time, Newcastle have proven they will battle the continent’s elite on their day.
Newcastle drew 1-1 in opposition to holders Paris St-Germain within the French capital final month and suffered a slim 2-1 defeat by the hands of Barcelona of their opening recreation of the competitors.
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No surprise, then, defender Dan Burn feels Newcastle can “compete with anyone” at their finest.
“We have proven that, particularly in opposition to Paris St-Germain, how good we might be,” he wrote in his programme notes.
“I believe we elevate our recreation going into these video games as a result of there are greater, higher groups at this stage of the competitors.”
‘They’ll buzz off somebody like Barcelona’
Newcastle have plenty of work to do within the Premier League, the place they at present lie in eleventh place.
However they’re now not stargazed by life within the Champions League.
Even enjoying within the opening spherical of the competitors was a brand new expertise for almost all of these on the membership final time round.
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This was a stage these gamers dreamed of enjoying on – nothing mentioned that fairly like Murphy’s wide-eyed surprise as he lined up for the Champions League anthem for the primary time on the San Siro in 2023 – however they now really feel like they belong.
Not solely are the squad in a position to attract on the experiences of their final marketing campaign, once they confronted Paris St-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan within the group of loss of life, they’ve additionally collected big-game experiences within the interim. This contains, in fact, ending a 70-year wait to win a significant home trophy by beating Liverpool within the Carabao Cup ultimate final March.
That’s the reason Friday’s final 16 draw will convey keen anticipation slightly than trepidation as former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle is aware of higher than most.
“Realizing all the boys within the dressing room, they are going to be enthusiastic about who they get within the subsequent spherical,” he informed BBC Radio 5 Reside.
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“They’ll buzz off somebody like Barcelona and that can create an unbelievable tie. To proceed this run is ideal for them and they are going to be hungry for extra.”