Excitement is set to remain at stratospheric levels after our stunning 2-1 win over Barcelona on Thursday night, with the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United following just three days later.
Eddie Howe's rapidly improving team have ignited the whole of Newcastle this season, and this is a chance for the Geordies to end their long and painful wait for a major trophy.
We caught up with home-and-away Newcastle United fan Dave Smith to get some insight on the mood in his home city, how crucial Nick Pope's suspension might be at Wembley, and where the game might be won and lost...
It’s well publicised that Newcastle have not won a major domestic trophy since 1955 – how much does this cup final mean to all your fans? And what has the mood been like in the city and among the fanbase since you progressed to the final?
“At full-time of the Southampton [semi-final] game it was euphoric, and once it was confirmed that Bruno [Guimaraes] was able to play despite getting that red card. But then [Nick] Pope gets that red card [against Liverpool] on Saturday… Prior to that, everyone was buzzing, but Nick Pope getting sent off has just tempered that. We’re still buzzing about it, obviously – it’s only our second-ever League Cup final. It’s a huge game of football. It just so happens that we’re playing probably the most in-form side in Europe, which is just typical! But we’re buzzing for it, and on Saturday and Sunday it will be a huge atmosphere in London. We’ve only played at the new Wembley for a league game against Tottenham! And if we managed to win, it would just be unbelievable for us.”
There’s been a lot made of that Pope suspension in the last week – why is it so important?
“I’d argue he’s been one of the top three goalkeepers in the league this season, and we’ve conceded the fewest goals in the league. We’re going to have to play a goalkeeper that hasn’t played a game for two years [Loris Karius], so that could go one of two ways: he could have a nightmare or it could be fairytale stuff.”
“It’s our first final since the 1999 FA Cup final. Our second League Cup final – we got beat by Man City in the other one [in 1976]. We got beat by an overhead kick from a Geordie in that one! Ridiculous. There’ll be loads go down. I know of at least 10-15 in my friendship group who are going without tickets. There’ll be tens of thousands in Trafalgar Square on the Saturday night. That’s what the craic is: they’ll hang around there. To me, London is a great city with loads of great pubs and bars, so why would you stand outside in the freezing cold in February?! But each to their own. We’re going down Saturday afternoon. We booked our hotel as soon as Man City got knocked out, because it was cancellable. And I’m getting the train back up on Monday.”
“I think there’s always a narrative with United in the media that draws things out of proportion. Even last season you only finished sixth, though I know that’s relatively poor compared to the standards you’ve set in the past! But I watch them a lot more now because my girlfriend is a United fan, and six or seven weeks ago she was telling me Ten Hag is a genius! From what I’ve seen, I think three things have helped United improve: moving Fernandes to the right of midfield gives him loads of time and space; Rashford being back on form and being able to play more up front; also I think having proper centre-halves, Varane and Martinez, who can play with the ball. And it’s benefitted both of our sides that Chelsea and Liverpool have had a stinker so far too, hasn’t it?”
“Obviously we’ve got to keep Rashford quiet. I think Eriksen getting injured wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to you. I think he’s somebody that we might have identified as a weak link, in terms of physicality, stamina. Taking him out and putting Fred in – he’s dynamic, has a lot of pace, and he’s been great in European games. We’ve got to keep Rashford quiet, Fernandes quiet… it’s a hard game for us! The game at Old Trafford, we had a good share of the game, but Ronaldo was up front then. The whole dynamic of your team has changed since then. When you took him off and put Rashford up top in that match, the game changed completely. Rashford missed a sitter and Fred missed a sitter. We hardly featured after Rashford had come on.”
That’s a very rational prediction – what does your heart say?!