Jacob Murphy on Barcelona: 'We're ready to go there and give them a war' | OneFootball

Although born in Wembley, London, Murphy and his twin brother, Josh, grew up as Magpies supporters. Recently, the 31-year-old made his 250th appearance for the club, having signed from Norwich City in 2017, but it hasn't been a smooth path. He had loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday as he initially struggled to establish himself at St. James' Park, but has become increasingly influential on and off the pitch under Eddie Howe.

Voted by his teammates into the players' Leadership Group at the beginning of last season, he wore the captain's armband in the closing stages of the Champions League home win over Qarabag last month. But being named skipper from the start was 'different,' he admitted - and picking up all three points made it even better.

Now attention turns to Barcelona on Wednesday night. Here are some of Murphy's post-match thoughts from Stamford Bridge.

On leading his boyhood club out for the first time...

"It's hard to describe. I'd had a little taste for brief moments but it's different from the start. I had a huge grin on my face when the gaffer told me. I had a bit of banter with 'Burny' (Dan Burn): 'I'm the captain now', so he has to listen. No, it was a lovely moment. And what a journey it's been that I lead the men out to war.

"It was in the team meeting, we were walking through our shape and whatnot, and then the manager says, 'skip today.' I was like 'what?' and he's like, 'yep.' Buzzing.

"You're in the moment and concentrating on the game. I had my brother (Josh) text me - he's been captain multiple times this season at Pompey so he was like, 'don't treat it any different to how you normally do.' So my communication with the lads never changed, I wasn't trying too hard. Leading the boys out on the field is something natural that I can do. I took that advice and it put me in good stead.

"I just try and help. I love to uplift people. Someone does something good, I'm telling them 'well done,' organising, trying to be a voice, give clear instructions, make sure everyone knows what they're doing. That's what I try and do as best as I can, but then we have multiple other leaders."

On success at Stamford Bridge...

"We implemented the game plan excellently, got the goal - a brilliant goal, Tino (Livramento), fantastic work, 'Willy' (Joe Willock), great run, great decision-making for him to spot 'Gordy' (Anthony Gordon) and give us a simple chance to go 1-0 up. And then after, the defending from all the units: unbelievable. Back four: amazing. Midfield five: diligent. And Gordy up top worked his socks off.

"We had to dig in. They started making it a bit more challenging with the numerical advantage in the top line. But it was disciplined. There was a lot of trust between the units that everyone was going to do what was required of them in each and every moment. And second half, bodies were flying everywhere, shots getting blocked, doubling up in wide areas. I think that that's an out-of-possession performance we should be looking at very proudly."

On putting Barcelona and Sunderland to one side to focus on beating Chelsea...

"We've had experience of this exact moment. First Carabao Cup final (in 2023), I think everyone was leaving stuff behind in preparation to give their all in said game. Going into the second final (last year), we had West Ham and we were in a bit of a difficult situation, but we attacked that West Ham game because we knew we needed the confidence and that feel good going into the final. That worked.

"So then (on Saturday) that's what we needed. We couldn't leave anything back ahead of the Wednesday game. Today was what was most important and I think everyone gave absolutely everything. Gordy ran his socks off, he was unbelievable today.

"We've learnt our lessons. We're growing as a team and learning from these experiences. That was a big thing that we park Wednesday. That will take care of itself when it comes around.

"It's a Round of 16 second leg, all to play for. We showed what we could do in that game so we're ready to go there and give them a war."