Hang on, what do I say if he wants one at the next game?

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The Mag

·19 de septiembre de 2025

Hang on, what do I say if he wants one at the next game?

So, three weeks ago today I’m sat in Davey Crockett’s Saloon bar at Disneyland Paris, watching the Champions League draw and hoping for a glamorous trip.

My son Blake is quietly playing on the table next to me. I’m struggling with the format of the draw so he’s got no chance. Then it comes out, the one he’s always been waiting for.

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I don’t know how Blake developed an interest in Barcelona as pretty much a toddler but he asked for their kit at an age when he showed little interest in football. As that interest grew, I’d regularly ask him if he knew who Newcastle were playing each weekend and he’d occasionally ask if Barcelona was an option.

In the early days I had to tell him there was a very real chance Newcastle would never ever play Barcelona again, so to see his face light up in that bar in Paris when I told him it was now a reality was an absolute joy.

That is my excuse for buying a half and half scarf, a concept I would usually advocate as reason for stripping people of tickets and trousers and handing their hard drive over to the authorities.

The official UEFA produced, date stamped effort in the club shop is an impressive thing to be fair, but I’ll not be doing it again I promise.

Anyway, with Blake armed with scarf and programme (I do my bit for PSR) we ventured in the stipulated 15 minutes before kick off to participate in Wor Flags’ most magnificent effort to date. A pop-out style Tifo the height of the east stand with an AC/DC tribute (accompanied by Back in Black) complemented by flags waving all around the ground created an image that will resonate across Europe. The place was absolutely buzzing and I even felt a tear in my eye, although this may have been down to glancing at the violent fluorescent orange kit Barca had turned up in.

The atmosphere infused in the players and United came roaring out, chasing down the throats of Barca’s attempts to play out from the back.

The team selection raised a few eyebrows as Woltemade started on the bench to allow a rapid triple-pronged attack of Barnes and Elanga either side of Gordon through the middle. Eddie obviously thinking of catching Barca’s high line out with pace in behind, and Elanga in particular got some joy out of this. Unfortunately, it was reminiscent of the ineffective attack of the opening games as any success getting in behind, inevitably led to a centre that failed to find a target, with Gordon completely failing to connect after Elanga had skinned Martin only moments into the match. This also drew a few corners but I think it’s fair to say United’s new set-piece coach has yet to leave his mark.

The best chance came on the counter, Elanga again getting in behind after Bruno’s tremendous through ball, but this time his ball in found Barnes at the back post. It was a tight angle, but Barnes’ effort lacked power and Joan Garcia was able to block it. This was part of an extremely solid evening for the visiting keeper, who is something of a forgotten man in the list of unfulfilled summer signings, a heavily linked option for Newcastle until it turned out that Barcelona could, after all, afford him.

The hype around Barcelona is actually relatively quiet. Not only are they La Liga champions and Copa del Rey holders, the Catalans have been on incredible run involving only three losses in 2025 to date. Their loss to Inter in extra time in last year’s semi final was unfortunately one of these and seems to have seen them pushed back a bit in the conversation this year as Liverpool, Real and PSG get repeated mentions.

As the hour mark approached, you had to fear the consequences of not turning chances into goals against such an ominous opponent. So it was to prove, as defending could have been better on Raphina’s probing counter, ultimately providing Kojnde with the chance to cross. Rashford got terrific direction on his header to divert it inside the far post but he had a bit much space for my liking.

This saw a change up that gave a different look altogether to the attack as Woltemade, Murphy and Willock replaced Barnes, Elanga and Joelinton, with Schar also giving way after the usual head injury for Thiaw, whose cameo I enjoyed immensely, with some neat little turns indicative of a very tidy player.

A long ball forward was poorly dealt with until Burn cut out Rashford’s attempt to head it on to Lewandowski. The ball landed back with Rashford, who created space and hit an unstoppable rocket into the top corner. It’s just not your day when those go in.

United didn’t wilt though and neither did the crowd, with a late fightback in the final moments. Big Nick released Murphy on the right and he sent in a perfect ball for Gordon to steer in at the back post. As he carried the ball back for the kick off seven minutes of added time were announced and a bit of belief sprouted.

For all their glamour, Barcelona are indeed proponents of the dark arts, with Frenkie de Jong a particular irritant and it being a matter for the police how long it took Lopez to get the booking he was desperately after, while Joelinton saw yellow for pretty much his first tackle. Said dark arts were deployed to wind down the seven minutes, with players going down easy, subs being made and the odd deliberate foul in the event United looked like gaining any momentum.

This was almost not enough though, as the last kick of the game saw a corner break to Tonali on the edge of a packed box. Sandro had time to size his shot up and I had time to envisage an unforgettable European moment but Joan Garcia was behind the effort again.

While disappointing in many ways, this was far from a disaster. The old Champions League format could see a home defeat push you to the brink of elimination but things are a bit different in 2025. It’s a long road to the knockouts, qualification for which only requires a finish in the top 24.

I actually believe we have been a bit fortuitous in the fall of the fixtures. Our toughest opponents are first and last, with Barca out of the way and an eminent possibility that PSG may be through with nothing to play for by the time we arrive there in January. The real guts of this competition comes in the months ahead, as the games against USG, Benfica, Bilbao, Marseille, Leverkusen and PSV represent a very real opportunity to get some serious points on the board. The way the club has grown we have to believe we have the measure of this level of European competition and hopefully the squad, if both full and firing for the bulk of these matches. Giving one of the world’s top sides a run for their money can only build confidence for the battles ahead.

On reflection, I am happy.

Happy to be back in the world’s biggest competition, playing the sort of legendary club that some English sides couldn’t beg a friendly off, never mind face competitively. Happy with a squad growing into themselves with real hope for the season ahead and happy to see my little lad seeing something I never thought would happen for him. He may have been confused by their turning up in bright orange, but he’s buzzing to be away to school with that scarf to show off.