Hall relishing Lamine Yamal challenge ahead of Newcastle’s Champions League clash with Barcelona

Newcastle United wing-back Lewis Hall says he is eager to test himself against Barcelona’s prodigious talent Lamine Yamal as the Magpies prepare to host the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.

Hall, speaking ahead of the fixture, emphasized the excitement of facing some of Europe’s best players while highlighting the team’s broader tactical focus.

“I think it goes without saying he’s a special talent,” Hall said of Yamal. “I’ve seen him play in enough Champions League games, I know what he’s about, so for me—if I was to be selected—I’d be really looking forward to it. I want to test myself against the best players in the world so there’s no better opportunity to do so than the game tomorrow.”

Hall was keen to stress that while Yamal is exceptional, Barcelona’s attacking threats are numerous and multifaceted.

“My relationship with him is no different to any other player. I know the moments that he can produce, I know what he’s like as a player, but I think they’ve got so many different threats in their team, so to single one individual out, as good of a player as he is, would be not a smart thing to do,” he said.

The 19-year-old defender reflected on the significance of the tie for both Newcastle and himself personally.

“We’re really excited as a team—the Round of 16 is something that the club’s not been in before, and we know that it’s a really important game for us as a club and for me as a fan. We’re all really excited, and we’re looking forward to hopefully putting a good performance in,” Hall added.

He also underlined the need to focus entirely on the first leg, putting aside domestic league concerns.

“We know the importance of tomorrow as a fixture in general. There’s still enough games to go in the league that we can turn it around but we just need to put that to the side for now and focus on tomorrow’s game, as that’s the most important thing right now,” Hall said.

Looking ahead to the return leg in Barcelona, Hall remained cautiously optimistic.

“It’s going to be really difficult going to their place in a week or so, but for now there’s such an important game tomorrow that we need to really just focus on what we can do tomorrow. When we do go there, we can hopefully take a positive result there. That’s what we need to do.”