How Kieran Trippier has handled Barcelona before and why he’ll be crucial for Eddie Howe again
Newcastle United are set to welcome Barcelona to a raucous St. James’ Park for an exciting Champions League group stage match up.
Eddie Howe will test himself against Hansi Flick’s unbeaten Barcelona on home soil, and should they manage to get a result, will pull off a major upset.
Despite being the underdogs, Newcastle have a major height advantage over Barcelona with the likes of Fabian Schar and Dan Burn towering over at set-pieces.
Howe has another defender who could be key in taking something off the five-time Champions League winners, though…
Kieran Trippier has faced Barcelona six times in his career
Kieran Trippier, who could leave Newcastle at the end of the season, is arguably the Magpies’ most experienced player.
Not only does he have an abundance of international experience, but he has played for four top flight clubs, including spending two-and-a-half years in Spain with Atletico Madrid.
During his 12-year-long senior career, Trippier has faced Barcelona on six occasions; once while with Spurs and five times with Atletico Madrid.
| Date | Team | Mins | Tackles | Interceptions | Blocks | Dribbled Past | Duels Won |
| Oct, 2018 | Spurs | 90 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Dec, 2019 | Atletico Madrid | 90 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jan, 2020 | Atletico Madrid | 90 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Nov, 2020 | Atletico Madrid | 90 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| May, 2021 | Atletico Madrid | 90 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Oct, 2021 | Atletico Madrid | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Although the 34-year-old has never scored or assisted, he has clocked up nearly 500 minutes against the Catalan giants.
Interestingly, in half of the games Trippier has lined up against Barcelona, he was not dribbled past once.
Quite an impressive achievement considering the Spaniards had Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and the legendary Lionel Messi among their options.
Trippier’s experience needed amid Eddie Howe’s limited options
It’s no secret — Newcastle have one of the thinnest squad depths.
Howe has never really had many options at full-back, and with Lewis Hall only recently returning to training following injury, now has even less.
Tino Livramento, arguably Newcastle’s best player so far this season, is nailed on to start at left-back, leaving Howe with Trippier as his only realistic option to deploy on the opposite flank.
Of course, for Howe, there are worse players to have available than the 54-time England capped full-back.
And with Yamine Lamal ruled out following an injury to his pelvis, there won’t be many better times to face Barcelona than Thursday (18 September) night’s blockbuster.
Raphinha is available, and expected to start, though, with Manchester United loanee, Marcus Rashford, likely to be among the Barcelona substitutes — a frightening prospect — and one Trippier will need to get to grips with as early as possible.