Anthony Gordon, the winger for Newcastle United, praised Barcelona's strength after his team's 2-1 defeat to the Catalan club in the opening of the UEFA Champions League, affirming that facing the Barça players was a special experience for him.

Gordon said: "Their ball possession style was an educational experience for me; we don’t face this kind of style in England, at least not at this level."

He added: "Barcelona is the best team I have played against in this aspect of the game; some movements in midfield were at a very high level."

He continued: "Of course, we feel disappointed because we don’t want to think that losing to Barcelona is normal; that’s not in our nature. We had better chances, but we weren't decisive enough."

The Newcastle winger concluded his statements by saying: "They scored wonderful goals, but we are also proud; they are among the top three teams in the world right now, and despite that, we put on a strong performance."