Newcastle boss wants team to thrive under Camp Nou pressure | OneFootball

Newcastle coach Eddie Howe asked his players on Tuesday to rise to the pressure of playing at Camp Nou, where the English team needs to beat Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.

The English side was better in the first leg, but a stoppage-time penalty goal by Lamine Yamal sealed a 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park.

Newcastle, aiming to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in its history, knows that the challenge will be even tougher this Wednesday at Barcelona’s home ground.

“I don’t think they’re intimidated. We have an experienced group, with many players who have already played in important matches. We’re used to this,” Howe explained.

“We want the importance of the match to motivate the players and help us grow. We can’t be intimidated, but with so many international players in the squad, I don’t see that as a problem,” he added.

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Newcastle is in ninth place in the English Premier League. A frustrating campaign, but Howe stated that the club is going through its best phase of the season.

“[The players] are happier now than at any other time this season. It’s been a season with many changes… At the beginning, we struggled to find our rhythm, the relationships within the team were new,” analyzed the coach, whose team is coming off an away win over Chelsea (1-0), a result that would be enough to eliminate Barcelona.

*With content from AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.