The Magpies return to club football's most prestigious competition, kicking off their 2025/26 league phase campaign against the five-time European champions at St. James' Park (kick-off 8pm BST).

Howe will be boosted by the availability of Anthony Gordon, who is currently serving a three-match suspension in the Premier League following his straight red card in a 3-2 defeat against Liverpool, and is hopeful for "consistent results" in order to boost their hopes of progressing into the competition's knockout stages.

Speaking on the 28th anniversary of United's famous Champions League victory against Barcelona, with Tino Asprilla's hat-trick inspiring the hosts to a 3-2 win, here are some of the boss' main talking points from Wednesday afternoon's pre-match media briefing, held at St. James' Park...

On tomorrow's visit of Barcelona, who won La Liga and the Copa del Rey last season:

"It’s a historic fixture. As soon as we realised we were drawn against Barcelona, it had a magical feel to it. I think it'll be an amazing game to experience.

"I'm focused on tactical preparation and making sure we deliver a good performance. I’m really excited to sample the atmosphere. I know it will be incredible."

On the 4-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain in 2023:

"There are things we can certainly take from that game but there are things we can take from the whole experience. Ultimately, we didn't progress beyond the group stage, which was a disappointment but we can use those experiences to help us.

"For this game, which is all we can focus on, it's about trying to get a positive result."

On learning from the Magpies' previous Champions League campaign:

"The experience, the size and the magnitude of the games - everything that goes into a Champions League game is different from the Premier League. The build up is different, the feel is different.

"Having done that before, it can certainly help us again and the squad is arguably stronger and, of course, it has changed from two seasons ago. I back the quality that we have.

"It's a tough looking fixture list for us and I think early games are really important because they set the foundations and tone."

On Gordon:

"Anthony's good. He’s in my thoughts [for tomorrow]. He’s an outstanding player and you can’t have enough of those. We'll look to utilise him.

"Whether we think that's from the start of the game, let's wait and see. He brings a pace and directness to our forward line which you always need. It's an important season for him in his career and we're looking forward to helping him reach his very highest levels."

On looking to progress from the league phase:

"That's the challenge we are looking to take on. Yes, we want magical nights, we want those moments that everyone remembers. The iconic games are great but you also want consistent results.

"I'm sure, during this Champions League season, we'll have games where we don't perform as well but we have to find a way even in those moments to generate positive results that can carry us through."

On Anthony Elanga:

"He's in a good place. I've been really pleased with how he's integrated himself into the group and how he's committed to the training that we've asked him to do.

"He's got standout qualities and attributes that we need. Similar to Anthony [Gordon], he's got outstanding pace and directness. He's going through a process where he's trying to understand everything that's required of him here which is very different to what was required of him at his former club.

"He's well on the way to doing that and I'm delighted with him."

On Barcelona, who reached the Champions League semi-finals last season:

"Firstly, they're a very good technical team. In possession, they're very comfortable on the ball. They have a lot of pace in wide areas and a lot of goals. You saw in their last game [a 6-0 win against Valencia] they're free scoring and have started the season really well.

"All of those things lead to us having to defend very well so our off the ball game plan has to be very strong. We've started the season well defensively so a continuation of that is going to be important."