The curious English stat behind Barcelona’s seven-goal night

Barcelona’s 7-2 thrashing of Newcastle did more than light up the Camp Nou scoreboard and fanbase. It also revived one of those strange, sharply specific stats that feel almost too neat to be true.

When Opta pointed out ahead of the game who Eddie Howe was following into this particular fixture, who could have predicted the scoreline. The Magpies boss became the first English manager to face Barcelona at the Camp Nou since Gary Neville did so with Valencia in February 2016. That night ended in disaster, with Neville’s side torn apart 7-0. A decade later, Howe walked into the same stadium and left with another seven-goal concession, this time in a 7-2 defeat.

That means the last two English managers to take on Barcelona at the Camp Nou have both shipped seven goals. It is a brutal coincidence, and one that instantly gave Barcelona’s latest big European win an extra layer of historical oddity. Not that they will have cared.

For Howe, it is the kind of stat no coach wants attached to his name. For Barcelona, it is a reminder of how ruthless they can still be on a big Champions League night, especially when opponents lose control and the game starts to run away from them. Sometimes football history repeats itself in grand fashion. Sometimes it does so with almost uncomfortable precision.

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