Newcastle v Athletic Bilbao preview ahead of St James’ Park clash | OneFootball

Welcome to the Newcastle v Athletic Bilbao preview.

Wednesday 5th Nov – 8pm kick-off.

Newcastle fans will be hoping for fireworks at St James’ Park this Guy Fawkes night as we host our friends from Bilbao in the Champions League.

There’s been a special bond between the two clubs since a UEFA Cup tie over thirty-one years ago and this promises an electric atmosphere as both teams look to build on encouraging starts to their European campaign.

With the two clubs both still in contention for qualification to the next stage, they’ll be desperate for three more points to further the chances of a top-eight finish.

The Toon of course will have the added incentive of drawing a line under their worst display of the season at the weekend, as we look to continue our fine cup form winning four of our five cup matches so far.

Form

Newcastle have played three Champions League matches this season, winning two and losing one. We began the campaign with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Barcelona but have since hammered both Union SG and Benfica. The six points gained have us eighth in the table which would guarantee a place in the next round. We’ve scored nine goals so far and conceded just one.

Bilbao have also played three Champions League games, they’ve won one and lost two. They began with defeats to Arsenal and Dortmund before achieving their first win last time out at home to Quarabag. Their three points have them in twenty-first with the teams finishing between ninth and twenty-fourth entering a play-off round for qualification to the next stage. They’ve scored four goals and conceded seven.

Newcastle travelled to West Ham on Sunday and endured a desperately disappointing 3-1 defeat despite taking an early lead through a fine Jacob Murphy strike. A jaded performance from United was punished by goals from Paqueta and Soucek either side of a Botman own goal. This was easily our worst performance of the season and we got exactly what we deserved from such a miserable performance, absolutely nothing.

Athletic Bilbao travelled to Real Sociedad at the weekend and suffered a sucker punch when conceding two minutes into injury time to condemn them to a 3-2 defeat. They managed two equalisers and looked good value for a draw before late heartbreak robbed them of an away point and cost them bragging rights in the Basque derby.

-This will be the ninth occasion a Spanish side has visited St James for a competitive match.

-Newcastle have won five and lost three home matches against Spanish opposition meaning there has never been a draw when a team from Spain visits the Toon.

-NUFC have scored in seven of their eight home matches against Spanish teams, our only failure to find the net came against Barcelona in 2003.

Memorable match

In 1994/95 Newcastle reached the second round of the UEFA Cup due to a fabulous 10-2 aggregate victory over Royal Antwerp, our reward was a two-legged tie with Athletic Bilbao. What happened on the pitch was packed with goals and drama but the real story happened off it between the two sets of fans. In an era where English supporters were still often labelled as hooligans, the Basque supporters from Bilbao were overwhelmed by their warm welcome from the generous Geordies with both sets of supporters congregating, drinking and singing together without a hint of trouble in Tyneside bars. The Toon looked on course for a place in the next round when goals from Ruul Fox, Peter Beardsely and Andy Cole had us 3-0 up before the hour but two late goals for our Spanish counterparts left the tie in the balance.

Issue 65 – July 1994

Two weeks later, the travelling Toon Army were afforded the same welcome that Bilbao supporters had enjoyed on Tyneside as an affinity was established between the two clubs. This has gone down as one of our greatest ever European away trips with supporters swapping shirts throughout a carnival atmosphere. Unfortunately, a second-half goal for Bilbao was enough to end United’s involvement in the competition on away goals but the legacy of the tie lives on through a bond between the two sets of supporters who will be looking forward to renewing acquaintances this week. Final score 3-3 on aggregate (Bilbao win on away goals)

Played for both

I’ve combed the record books and am struggling to find any players who have represented both clubs, perhaps this is due to the Spanish club’s policy of only selecting players from the Basque region. Let’s instead take a look at some Spanish NUFC players:

Marcelino was signed by Ruud Gullit during our disastrous summer of 1999. Costing nearly six million pounds (a fairly hefty fee in those days), a lot was expected of him. Unfortunately, a variety of injuries (some more bizarre than others) ensured he only played seventeen times for NUFC in a three and a half year spell. On the rare occasions he dirtied his boots for United he looked short of confidence, fitness and ability. Regularly seen amongst ‘NUFC Worst XI’ line ups, it’s safe to say fans were left underwhelmed and few tears were shed at his departure in Jan 2003.

Albert Luque was another huge disappointment. Signed for big money by Graeme Souness in 2005, he was stretchered off on his debut and this set the tone for an injury-prone spell on Tyneside. Despite never having made much of an impact at the Toon, Luque is immortalised in song having scored the final goal in a memorable 4-1 victory at arch-rivals Sunderland. He also opened the scoring in Shearer’s testimonial and headed home the winner in a UEFA Cup tie away at Palermo but highlights were very few and far between before he signed for Ajax in 2007.

Joselu was signed by Rafa Benitez in 2017 and scored six league goals in two years. Perhaps the highlight of his time at Newcastle came at the start of the 18/19 season when scoring headed equalisers in back-to-back home games against both Tottenham and Chelsea. Unfortunately, both games ended in 2-1 defeats and Joselu’s form dwindled as he found himself our fourth choice striker behind Rondon, Perez and Muto. He signed for Alaves in 2019 and rebuilt his career in Spain.

Managers

Eddie Howe after a 3-1 defeat away at West Ham:

“We were unrecognisable in some aspects of our game. We were better in the second half but not great. It didn’t look like a Newcastle team. The body language, the collective spirit. We weren’t where we needed to be mentally. We’ll go away and learn from today. It could be a turning point that we could work to our advantage. I could have taken anyone off. It’s very rare to feel that way. I haven’t felt like that since I’ve been Newcastle manager. The team needed shaking up. It’s a concern when you’re not where you want to be, because you’re always in a position where you’re chasing results. We haven’t hit our rhythm in the Premier League, not consistently. We’ve had some highs but today is a low. When you’re going from competition to competition the focus changes quickly. That’s a challenge we have to prepare for better.”

Ernesto Valverde after a 3-2 defeat to Real Sociedad:

“It was a hard-fought game from the first minute to the last. In the first half we were in control. They scored the first goal, but we reacted well. In the second half, they scored at the end, they were the ones who found the net. Congratulations to them and keep going”

Charity

Newcastle United fans food bank will once again be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end and gratefully receiving food, money and toiletries for those in need. Of particular interest are non-perishable food and drink items (such as noodles, pasta, rice, canned food, soup, cereal, cordial, long life milk etc) as well as toiletries such as shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and sanitary products. Please give whatever you can, any donation is very much appreciated.

For further info and/or to donate online go HERE.