Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia has played down interest from Newcastle United last summer before he made a controversial move from city rivals Espanyol. The Magpies were one of several Premier League sides linked with a move for Garcia before the Blaugrana activated his €25m release clause.
Garcia was speaking ahead of their second Champions League meeting of the season at St. James’ Park, where Newcastle host the first leg of their Round of 16 clash. He maintained his side were on the up.
“We’re approaching it with great enthusiasm, knowing there will be a second leg, but we’re sure they’ll come out with everything. We have to learn from the Cup tie against Atletico, where we paid the price for what happened in the first leg.”
“We’ve taken a step forward in the last few matches, we press better, when we’re well structured, we take advantage of the two long weeks to work. I already said after the 4-0 against Atletico that we would learn from our mistakes, we are a young squad and we have understood that.”
The press conference took place after an election debate between presidential candidates Victor Font and Joan Laporta, in which a main topic of debate was Xavi Hernandez’s bombastic claims that Laporta sabotaged Lionel Messi’ return to the club. Garcia avoided the topic altogether.
“It doesn’t affect us at all, we’re focused on the game,” he noted, before being asked whether the potential departure of Director of Football Deco, as promised by Font if he wins, would impact the players.
“I haven’t thought about that, nor have my teammates; we’re focused on what’s at stake.”
During their first meeting, Garcia made a number of saves as a Marcus Rashford brace gifting Barcelona a 2-1 win.
“It’s good to have already played to get to know the opponent and the stadium, but we know they’ll come out very intense and we’ll have to be careful.”
“I repeat that it helps to have played here before, but we have to stay focused and match their high tempo. They try to press, they rely heavily on their physicality. We already did it on the day of the 1-2, but we have to repeat it and improve on what we didn’t do so well.”
Flick: "I haven't decided yet, but Marcus could be a good option tomorrow."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 9, 2026
Garcia was also asked whether he received interest from Newcastle last summer, but distanced himself the idea that a move could have taken place.
“A lot was said in the summer, but when Barca’s name came up, I knew what I wanted. (Were there any calls from Newcastle after that?) No. I’m very happy at Barca.”
The Catalan giants are in action against Newcastle at 21:00 CEST on Tuesday, as they seek to take a good result back to Camp Nou. They are on a run of four straight wins since their heavy defeat to Atletico.
