Sandro Tonali Starts – Newcastle United Team vs Barcelona Confirmed | OneFootball

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Eddie Howe has selected his Newcastle United lineup vs Barcelona for this evening’s Champions League last 16 second leg tie in Spain.

The first leg at St James’ Park ended in a 1-1 draw and Newcastle will believe they have a fighting chance of progression tonight.

Howe has been under pressure due to Newcastle’s lacklustre Premier League campaign, which has seen fans unhappy, but eased some of the pressure with a 1-0 win at Chelsea at the weekend.

The Champions League is an arena Newcastle believe they should be competing in and Sven Botman recently insisted the club can win the Premier League title soon.

Howe has admitted that getting a result away at Barcelona would be the biggest victory of his managerial career so far.

Barcelona head into the tie on the back of a 5-2 thrashing of Sevilla in La Liga at the weekend and will start as favourites to get the job done.

The Catalans have won their last 17 straight home matches and Newcastle’s defenders could be in for a challenging night.

Newcastle’s last visit to Barcelona came in the Champions League in 2002, when the Catalan side won 3-1.

In goal in the Newcastle United lineup vs Barcelona this evening is Aaron Ramsdale, while to protect the goalkeeper, Howe goes with a backline of Kieran Trippier, Malick Thiaw, Dan Burn and Lewis Hall.

Keeping possession will be crucial tonight and in the engine room, Newcastle field Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Jacob Ramsey, while Anthony Elanga, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon carry the attacking threat.

If Howe needs to shake things up throughout the 90 minutes, or possibly longer, then he has options to change his Newcastle United lineup vs Barcelona off the bench and they include Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.