Newcastle United have Premier League business to take care of this evening, but some on Tyneside will have had one eye on Barcelona last night.
With the Catalans coming to St James’ Park next Tuesday in our Champions League last 16 first leg, it was interesting to see how they got on in Tuesday night’s Copa Del Rey semi-final clash with Atletico Madrid.
They were 4-0 down after a first-leg beating in Madrid and almost completed the comeback, only to go out 4-3 on aggregate following a 3-0 win at the Nou Camp.
But it was a costly night in more ways than one, as two Barcelona defenders were added to their ever-increasing injury list, just days after losing key midfielder Frenkie de Jong for the next month.
French right-back Jules Kounde limped off with a muscle injury in the 13th minute, and his replacement, Alejandro Balde was then forced off in the second half. Both are thought to be hamstring issues.
The pair have been Barcelona’s starting full-backs for much of the 2025/26 season, but both look set to miss our two legged tie with the La Liga giants, as Spanish outlet SPORT report that both are facing at least a month on the sidelines.
On top of this, midfielder Gavi won’t be back in time, joining de Jong on the sidelines, while Andreas Christensen also remains out.
An eye injury for Robert Lewandowski also kept him out of last night’s 3-0 win over Atletico, casting doubt over his availability for next Tuesday’s first leg.
Barcelona travel to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday night (8pm) in their final fixture before their trip to Tyneside, while Newcastle have Man Utd tonight, followed by an FA Cup fifth round clash with Man City this weekend.
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