RLB ON BARCA IMPACT

Much has been made of Newcastle United's humiliating 7-2 defeat at the hands of Barcelona, in a game where they were firmly shown their stature in European competitions. Some people have said it'll knock their confidence, some people have said they'll be desperate to bounce back on Sunday. Eddie Howe said they'll have to play the derby like their lives depend on it! However, in typically level-headed fashion, Regis Le Bris pointed out that the Champions League is a different competition and Sunday's derby will be played with a totally different context. He watched their match midweek, but isn't taking the result into consideration too heavily.

BARCA RESULT HAVE AN IMPACT?

“Their game? I don’t know because we are just focusing on us and the way we want to approach this game with proactivity, togetherness and intensity like we did in the last weeks against Leeds and Bournemouth away. Two intense teams and we have the blueprint for that. This fixture will be different of course because it is a derby, with different background, history and expectations, but I think we want to be ‘us’ first of all.”

DIFFERENT CONTEXT

“I think it was a different competition and they will have a different game. The Champions League is a tough competition, the highest in Europe, so now back to the Premier League and back to the derby, it will be a totally different mindset. Tactically, technically, the availability of their players… it was still useful to watch, and to understand why they did it, but we expect a different game.”

DOING THE DOUBLE

“We will see. It’s a bit early to anticipate the reaction after a win, so for us the main focus is this one. We want to prepare for this game properly. We had the team meeting this morning and we will train twice to get ready for the event.”

EXCITEMENT IN THE SQUAD

“I think so. They want to play the game and there’s always something a bit different in a derby, especially away in this case.”

NO HOME ADVANTAGE FOR US

“I think the first leg was important to set the tone because you always need to experience a situation before you can really understand the context and the emotion associated. This game was really positive. Now, going away from home will be different. The atmosphere won’t be fuelled by our fans, because even if we have our fans the majority of the stadium will be filled by their fans. We have to manage this, and it’s going to be a really exciting experience.”

MAGS SIMILAR TO LEEDS AWAY?

“We were brave, we pressed high and we were really intense collectively, mostly with their ability to build up the play. It was tough for us as well because Leeds pressed high as well and we didn’t have good control over that game, but we learned from it. I think it was the first game for Melker, Granit didn’t start, they are really important in the buildup so we might improve in this part, I think. We have to be proactive, we want to show our qualities, we want to be intense with our way of playing. After that, it will be a question of key moments. We’ll have to manage the momentum because these games are really intense. It might become a basketball game at times and do we want to do that or not? It’s sometimes up to us to decide.”