Football: Geordie invasion adds spice to battle for wooden spoon

The Barcelona public is largely indifferent to tonight's visit by Newcastle but, as Glenn Moore reports, this should not prevent the match having a special atmosphere.

Traditionalists will take a measure of satisfaction from tonight's Champions' League tie at the Nou Camp. Two teams with big pretensions but no current championship, who each scrambled into the competition as runners-up, are playing off, in all probability, for Group C's wooden spoon.

Barcelona are already out of the running for a quarter-final place and the subsequent indifference to this match means barely 15,000 Catalans are expected to turn up. This is partly due to poor recent results, but also to the forecast for torrential rain and a recurring problem with midweek attendances - many fans work late and a substantial number travel long distances from all over Catalonia. There is also the matter of familiarity with European competition. Barcelona are used to competing every year and have won 10 titles including last season's Cup-Winners' Cup.

Given the ground capacity of 109,815 this could make for a flat atmosphere had the city not been invaded by up to ten thousand Geordies. Newcastle may need a freak set of results to qualify for the next stage but the Toon Army are not going to let that spoil the chance of a trip to Barcelona. Europe is a less common experience for them since their solitary trophy was back in the Sixties. Yesterday they were patronising the Nou Camp museum and club shop as well as the bars on the Ramblas.

Those Barcelona and Newcastle fans who do attend are likely to see a lively match without the tense drama of the previous meeting, won 3-2 by Newcastle at St James' Park. Both teams are especially short in forward power but Barce- lona's superior resources means they can still field Rivaldo, Giovanni and Juan Antonia Pizzi in attack. With Keith Gillespie suspended and Tino Asprilla not expected to be fit, Newcastle are likely to rely on the rejuvenated John Barnes in attack.

The wheels have come off Newcastle United's Champions' League campaign since that heady night at St James', but yesterday they did so literally. A tyre had to be changed on their charter flight before they left Newcastle Airport putting the team's departure back an hour and creating some uncomfortable nerves for the bad fliers.

Kenny Dalglish, who, incredibly, was making his first trip to the Nou Camp, said of the match: "We'll have a go and see what happens. The fans have been magnificent. They deserve 100 per cent from us and that is what they'll get. I'm surprised Barcelona are bottom of the group, as is everyone else. It does not make them a bad team."

Dalglish also has injury doubts over John Beresford, Warren Barton, Rob Lee, Jan Dahl Tomasson and, most worryingly, Shay Given. The goalkeeper has shoulder and ankle problems and was heavily strapped at training last night. On the plus side Stuart Pearce is back and expected to play. Typically, he was first out at the training session and, while younger members of the team looked in awe at the magnificent stadium, he kept his head down as if to say "it's just another football ground to me".

The referee, Marc Batta, caused a stir in September when he dismissed a Portuguese player for two bookable offences in the World Cup qualifier with Germany. The second was for timewasting after he walked off the pitch too slowly while being substituted. Portugal were thus not able to bring on their substitute and, having been 1-0 up at the time, were pegged back to 1-1 and subsequently failed to qualify. Fernando Couto, Barcelona's Portuguese defender, will no doubt be taking free-kicks with alacrity.

The only, English side to win here in Europe was Liverpool in 1976 when John Toshack scored the goal that took them into the Uefa Cup final. With Barcelona currently in disarray Newcastle, for all their injury problems, will rarely get a better chance to do the same.