Flick: St. James' Park is one of the toughest stadiums, and Rashford is an important addition for us

The head coach of Barcelona, German Hans Flick, confirmed that facing Newcastle United in the first round of the Champions League group stage will be a tough test, emphasizing the strength of the atmosphere at St. James' Park, and expressing confidence in his team despite absences.

Regarding the match against Newcastle and the atmosphere in the stadium, he said: "I have never been to St. James' Park, but it is one of the stadiums with a special atmosphere, I expect a strong team that plays intensively and focuses on second balls, Eddie Howe is a great coach, and he is doing an excellent job there."

On Newcastle's physical condition, he added: "We showed a good level in the match against Valencia, we are playing with confidence and controlling different aspects of the game, we need to hold onto the ball and exploit spaces, as the match will not be easy because they are a strong physical opponent."

On the expected lineup: "I can't determine the lineup now, I need one last training session and 8 hours of rest before making the final decision."

On Marcus Rashford: "I have been following him since his days at Manchester United, he has speed and the ability to finish in individual confrontations, and his level in recent weeks has been very good, I am happy to have him in the team, and I expect a lot from him."

On Raphinha: "Raphinha is a key player for us, he starts pressing from the front, and it's great to see him on the field."

On the enthusiasm to win the Champions League: "Our goal is to win every match, we learned a lot from last season, and we want to improve day by day, we have a young group of players, but we have quality, we want to prove our capabilities at the highest level."

On Lamine Yamal: "We will not put any pressure on him, we have an excellent medical team and we will monitor his development, he will only return to participate when he is 100% ready."

On regaining confidence after the win over Valencia: "The result was similar to what we presented last season, we had a strong match from the start, and this is what we need in every encounter."

On the change in performance after the preparation period: "Although we won all the preparation matches, we did not show the same level in La Liga, the match against Valencia brought back our positive feeling."

On Araújo and defensive options: "We have outstanding players like Eric Garcia and Koundé, and they have proven their competence, anything is possible and we will decide tomorrow."

On absences and the possibility of Rashford participating: "We have great alternatives, if someone cannot participate, like Lamine Yamal, there are ready players like Rashford who can compensate for the absence."

On the pressure from the fans: "Although we are a young team, we have experience, the players know how to deal with pressure, and we showed that last season when we turned the tables in La Liga."