Harvey Barnes, the scorer for Newcastle United within the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Spherical of 16 in opposition to FC Barcelona, made it clear that regardless of the 1-1 draw at St James’ Park, his workforce is filled with perception forward of the return leg on the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Barnes handed the result in the Magpies final Tuesday, solely to see his aim cancelled out by a late Lamine Yamal penalty.
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With every thing to play for within the second leg, the winger has issued a warning to Barcelona, stating that whereas Newcastle respect their high quality, they are going to spare no effort in making life exhausting for the Catalans on the pitch.
“You must respect their high quality, however not respect them on the pitch,” he advised the Newcastle Chronicle (h/t ).
“You must make their lives depressing,” Barnes added.
The 28-year-old winger, who has recorded 14 targets and 4 assists thus far this season, insisted that Newcastle should keep the identical aggressive type that .
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“You may’t present them an excessive amount of respect. In the event you do, they’ll punish you and create likelihood after likelihood,” he defined.
Barnes scored for Newcastle in opposition to Barcelona. (Photograph by Stu Forster/Getty Photographs)
“We did that that evening: we pressed them from the primary minute and tried to do it all through the sport. You may’t allow them to come right here, dictate the sport, and showcase their class. You must make their lives depressing,” he continued.
In Barnes’s view, giving Barcelona an excessive amount of area or respect inevitably results in hazard as a result of the Catalan facet has gamers of huge high quality able to creating fixed attacking alternatives.
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He notably highlighted Newcastle’s collective defensive effort in limiting Barcelona’s possession and alternatives across the penalty space.
Barnes additionally made it clear that the primary side Newcastle should enhance within the second leg in Barcelona is making the most of their probabilities.
“We’ve proven again and again that once we play at our greatest, we will compete with these high groups. There have been too many events this season the place we’ve dropped under that degree, and it’s value us dearly within the Premier League,” Barnes famous.
“However within the Champions League, we’ve been at our greatest; we performed very effectively, with and with out the ball, and we deserved to go away with a lead. Subsequent week we’ll be at our greatest,” he reiterated.