Newcastle legend Alan Shearer takes aim at Anthony Gordon for Barcelona benching 

Newcastle are in the midst of preparing for one of the biggest European nights they have had in a long time, but there is a storm brewing between one of the legends of the club and star striker Anthony Gordon. Alan Shearer accused the talisman of declining to play the Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Barcelona.

Gordon questioned by legends

Newcastle came out first match of the round of 16 with a 1-1 draw against Barcelona and have it all to play for at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. Gordon started the opening leg on the bench as Newcastle hosted the Catalan giants from St. James’ Park. It was a decision that Shearer thought strange, claiming that “something extraordinary” would have had to have happened to keep him out of a match like that.

Reports within the Newcastle camp suggested that Gordon was suffering from an illness that kept him from playing the full 90 minutes. When asked about Shearer’s suspicions, the second leading goal scorer in this Champions League campaign couldn’t ignore the allegations and wholeheartedly denied them, calling the claims “nonsense.”

“Usually I don’t like to clear stuff up because I don’t care too much,” Gordon told the media after the weekend match on Sunday. “But this one does need clearing up because it was just nonsense. Saying I didn’t want to play in the biggest game of my career is absolute nonsense.” Gordon did end up playing the final 23 minutes, and was on the pitch when Harvey Barnes scored the 1-0 to give the Magpies the lead.

All to play for in Barcelona

Gordon showed everyone that he was back to full fitness at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night as he was included in the starting XI and scored the one and only goal of the night. That didn’t quite Shearer down, in fact he doubled down on his statements saying no coach would have been able to keep him on the bench against Barcelona.

Shearer was on the The Rest is Football podcast, and responded to Gordon saying, “Good! I love it! That’s fine. You always get the chance, the right to reply as a player. I wouldn’t change anything I said the other night against Barcelona. Illness wouldn’t have kept me out for a game, I know he said it was the manager’s [decision].”

Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane jumped on the chance to question Gordon following the match. Rooney said, “If you’re ill, you’re ill. You shouldn’t be there. He walked past us before the game and wouldn’t shake our hands. He said he didn’t want us to catch anything, but then he’s going into the dressing room with his team-mates.” While Keane added “How can you be ill but come on for half an hour?”

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