Newcastle v Barcelona: Eddie Howe wants players to be talked about like 1997 victors

Head coach Eddie Howe has challenged his Newcastle United players to seize the moment and follow in the footsteps of the side who defeated Barcelona in 1997.

Newcastle will meet Barca in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.

The fixture stirs memories of Tino Asprilla’s hat-trick and the night Newcastle stunned the La Liga giants in the old group phase.

Howe was a player at Bournemouth at the time, but was among the millions tuning in to the 3-2 victory from afar.

“You couldn’t not watch that game,” he said. “It was on terrestrial television. It was one of those legendary games.

“You want people in future years to be talking about this team. Tino Asprilla gets the hat-trick, a couple of them from Keith Gillespie’s delivery on the right.

“I want our players to be talked about in the same way in 20, 30, 40 years.”

The current sides met in the league phase back in September on a night Newcastle were defeated 2-1 on Tyneside.

Howe took positives from that loss, though, and has described this rematch as the “biggest game” in the club’s recent history as he looks to guide Newcastle into the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time ever.

“It’s an opportunity to grab a moment that we may never get again,” he added. “You never know what life brings tomorrow, let alone future seasons.

“We don’t want to waste that opportunity. We don’t want to kick ourselves or think, ‘What if?'”