Marcel Desailly compared the Newcastle United fans to Liverpool ahead of the Champions League clash against Barcelona on Thursday night.
While it was not the night fans were hoping for, there are still a lot of positives that Eddie Howe can take from the performance.
To hold a world-class team like Barcelona to just two goals is an achievement in itself. Marcus Rashford scored a brace, including a sublime finish from outside the area, giving Nick Pope no chance of saving it.
Despite that, Anthony Gordon’s late goal gave Newcastle United fans an ounce of hope before the final whistle, but ultimately, the La Liga side were just too much on the night.
St James’ Park was electric for the game, with fans cheering every tackle, every throw-in, every pass throughout the 90 minutes. Chelsea legend Marcel Desailly played against Newcastle on multiple occasions in his career and made his feelings known about the ground before the Barca game.
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Marcel Desailly says St James’ Park is scarier than Anfield
The Newcastle fans have brought the noise in all three of their home games this season. It was deafening inside the ground when the Magpies played Liverpool last month, and it was no different when Barcelona arrived on Tyneside.
De Jong praised the Newcastle fans for the atmosphere, calling the Toon Army ‘true football fans’, a brilliant compliment from one of the best in the world.
Desailly was fully prepared for what the Newcastle fans were going to bring on Thursday, and while on the panel for beIN Sports, the Frenchman shared his admiration for St James’ Park, saying Anfield has nothing on it.
“All the time I mention St James’ Park. They don’t have that feeling of what is happening there, really,” he said.
“I played there with Chelsea. I came from a 90,000 people San Siro, coming to Chelsea, remember it was 32,000 so they push it to 42, but St James’ Park was, wow, just amazing, oh I love it.
“Yes, (St James’ Park is the best ground in England) for the fans. They are scary because Liverpool, when you play at Liverpool, you’re happy. You know, you’ll never walk alone, you even want to sing when you are the opponent, when you come down the stairs, you want to touch the logo of Liverpool. Captain of Chelsea, and I’m touching the logo because I’m happy to be there!
“(Anfield) is just smelling football happiness, but St James’ Park, you are scared, tonight is not going to be an easy night.”
Newcastle United fans are keen to see St James’ Park become a fortress again
The 2022/23 campaign will live long in the memory for many Newcastle fans, especially for their home form. Howe’s side lost just twice at St James’ Park during that season, winning 11 games and drawing six.
Last weekend’s win against Wolves was no doubt a confidence boost for Howe and his players, but they must make winning at St James’ Park a common occurrence like it was three seasons ago.
One will argue that they were unlucky against Liverpool due to Gordon’s red card, and they were no match for Barcelona, but after losing five home games last season, fans are keen to see the ground go back to its old ways and become a fortress once again.
The fans can take confidence from the fact that they have kept three clean sheets in their opening four Premier League games, with the likes of Dan Burn still looking at the peak of his powers despite being 33.
Summer signing Malick Thiaw could be in line to start the next couple of games for Newcastle due to Fabian Schar’s head injury, so Howe still has a quality defender to pick in the Swiss international’s absence.
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