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Season 1997-98 
Barcelona (Spain) (h) Champions League Group Stage Game 1





Date:
Wednesday 17th September 1997, 7.45pm
Live on ITV 

Venue:
SJP

Conditions: Unrepeatable

Admission: £tbc





Newcastle United  3-2 Barcelona
 

Teams

 

Goals

22 mins Faustino Asprilla won the penalty when he went down under the challenge of goalkeeper Ruud Hesp and got up to convert it successfully 1-0



30 mins
Steve Watson's free kick was played to Keith Gillespie and he eluded Sergi before sending over a cross headed in from six yards out by Tino at the Gallowgate End  2-0

Half time: 
Newcastle 2 Barcelona 0

49 mins The third goal was almost a mirror image of the second: Rob Lee bringing the ball out of defence and finding Gillespie in his own half. He side-stepped Sergi before galloping off down the right and providing a sumptuous centre that Tino leapt between two defenders to head home at the Leazes End  3-0

72 mins Luis Figo crossed from the right side of the box and Luis Enrique chested the ball into the net 3-1

88 mins
A corner kick was swung over that Shay Given caught and then dropped as he came off his line. Warren Barton hacked the ball clear but it fell straight to Figo, who shot home low from the edge of the box through a crowd of players 3-2

Full time: Newcastle 3 Barcelona 2

 

We Said

Kenny Dalglish said:

"Tino will get all the headlines tomorrow and rightly so because he scored three great goals and caused them many, many problems, but every one of the players is a hero. They are all equally important because they went out there and battled really hard.

"We played really well in the first half and we've won 3-2, even though they gave us one or two scares at the end.

"After half-time you would expect them to come back and hammer us, and they did that. Credit them for that because they are a great team. But tonight we've got the three points and that's the most important thing.

"Its a great night for the chairman (Sir John Hall) and really it's a fitting accolade to him after he announced his retirement on Monday.

"We have not had that many big European nights so this will go down in recent times as one of the best. We have two more European nights to come at home and let's hope we can add to this.

"People will respect Newcastle. If they don't then that's their problem - it's not mine.

"We don't have anything to prove to people, we are what we are. The most important thing is to look forward and hope they can continue at that level of performance.

"When you play against great teams - and Barcelona are a great team - there is no way you can afford to lose concentration as they are going to get back at you, at some time, somehow.

"But the people out there did us proud. When they pulled it back to 3-2 they were under the cosh a little bit, but then the defenders came into their own and they made their  contribution, just as the attackers had done in the first half.

On Asprilla:

"He was a tremendous threat up front on his own. He does that for his country and he was great tonight. He won the penalty himself and the next two goals came from hard work by Gillespie finished off with two good headers."

They Said

Louis van Gaal said:

"The individual performances of Gillespie and Asprilla decided the game.

"When I came to Spain I was pleased because of the mentality of the Spanish players to be aggressive. But I am very disappointed by the fact that Newcastle could play their own game."

 

Waffle

Independent match report:

In football, one man's misfortune is another's opportunity and Faustino Asprilla last night took the chance offered by Alan Shearer's broken leg like a starving man at a smorgasbord.

Having already won Newcastle a place in the Champions' League with his performance in Croatia, he produced a virtuoso display of forward play to tear mighty Barcelona apart. His 22-minute hat-trick left Barcelona facing humiliation in front of a rampant St James' Park. That they rallied and almost forced a draw was an indication both of their quality and Newcastle's achievement.

Asprilla scored after 26, 30 and 48 minutes. The first was a penalty he won himself, the others headers from excellent crosses by a rejuvenated Keith Gillespie. Those two were outstanding as was Robert Lee, an inspiring captain who stirred and steadied his men.

They needed a fourth hero - Shay Given, the goalkeeper. Having apparently won the game, Newcastle let Barcelona pen them in their area and, after 72 minutes, Luis Enrique pulled a goal back. Rivaldo then hit the bar and was twice brilliantly denied by Given before, with three minutes remaining, Luis Figo scored from the edge of the area. Nerves were shredded as the horrifying prospect of another Newcastle collapse loomed but this time they survived.

They deserved to; they may not be champions but this was a champion show on their Champions' League debut. Until they surrendered space late on, they had dictated the tempo with Asprilla, Gillespie and Lee making quality players like Miguel Angel Nadal, Sergi and Ivan de la Pena look ordinary.

A team-mate recently said that, with Asprilla, you can tell from his first touch if he is going to have a good game or a bad game - there are no in-between games with Asprilla. Last night, his first touch was a fine one, it took him past Michael Reiziger and the Dutchman brought him down.

Five minutes later, he combined with John Barnes to set up Jon Dahl Tomasson only for the Dane to waste the chance. He was just as negligent when Gillespie sped down the right and carefully picked him out with a deep cross.

David Batty, for a foolish foul on Luis Enrique, and De la Pena, for an incident with Lee, were booked as the sides duelled for supremacy but nothing disrupted Asprilla's verve. Only Nadal's excellent tackle prevented him breaking clear after 18 minutes and there was no one to block his path when Tomasson set him free soon after. He rounded Ruud Hesp only for the goalkeeper to bring him down.

Asprilla ignited the night with a successful conversion and the ground was still rocking when, on the half-hour, he headed in Gillespie's cross following Watson's quickly-taken free-kick. Newcastle, almost disbelievingly, exploded in joy.

A half-chance for Rivaldo reminded everyone that there was an hour to go, but Lee went closer at the other end. Rivaldo, who was exempt from Barcelona's general sloth, also brought the first real save from Given after 47 minutes but the next attack was more typical of the night: Gillespie again beat Sergi on the half-way line and dashed away with the full-back in pursuit. It was a fruitless chase; by the time he caught the Ulsterman, the ball was fizzing towards the near post where Asprilla, watched by Nadal, headed it in.

Minutes later, Asprilla almost scored again from a near-identical move before duping Reiziger and forcing Hesp to save. Then came the Catalan revival with Given denying Rivaldo and Nadal before Luis Enrique's goal, chested in after Rivaldo had freed Figo on the right, set the nerves jangling.

"Are you watching Sunderland?" the Toon Army had sung at the apex of their joy. Despite being flushed with the success of beating Bury on Tuesday, one doubts they could bear to turn the television on. If so, they missed a classic.

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