Faustino Asprilla will be remembered fondly by Newcastle United fans for his Champions League heroics.
Newcastle United recently made their return to the Champions League under Eddie Howe for the first time in 20 years.
It produced some magical European nights at St James’ Park, including that win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Newcastle are targeting European qualification again this season, and the Magpies will hope to have more Champions League heroes to look up to in years to come.
One player who has already etched his name in Newcastle’s history is Faustino Asprilla, who gave fans an unforgettable night against Barcelona back in 1997.
Faustino Asprilla scored Champions League hat-trick for Newcastle
Barcelona came to town 27 years ago with a star-studded squad including the likes of Rivaldo, Luis Figo and Luis Enrique.
However, they were simply no match for Faustino Asprilla on the night, with the Newcastle cult hero scoring a hat-trick in a dramatic 3-2 victory.
He became the first-ever Colombian player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League and remained the only one to do so until Tuesday evening.
Liverpool’s Luis Diaz scored a hat-trick in their 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and injury specialist Ben Dinnery has pointed out that Diaz now joins Asprilla as the only Colombians to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
Faustino Asprilla’s brilliant match vs Barcelona
Shay Given started in goal for Newcastle on the night of Asprilla’s hat-trick, and recalls the two “brilliant” headers scored by the midfielder.
As quoted by talkSPORT, Given said: “The first goal was a penalty and then Tino scored two almost identical headers, one in each half, with Keith flying down the right wing and putting in perfect crosses for Tino, who seemed to have extra time to hang in the air before powering the ball home. They were both brilliant headers.
Asprilla has also pointed out that he almost missed out on the match after leaving manager Kenny Dalglish furious.
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Speaking to FourFourTwo magazine in 2017, Asprilla revealed: “I’d been away on international duty, but instead of going back to Newcastle I went to my ranch and had a party with lots of girls. Kenny Dalglish was furious.”
Thankfully Asprilla did start against Barcelona, and he gave Newcastle supporters a night they won’t forget.
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