Barcelona will have to cope without superstar winger Lamine Yamal for a trip to Newcastle in the Champions League on Thursday, when there’s a sooner-than-expected return to Manchester City for Kevin De Bruyne.

The final batch of matches from the first round of the league stage also sees Kairat, a tournament newcomer from Almaty in Kazakhstan, visit Sporting Lisbon after a trek across three time zones and more than 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles).

Some star power will be missing at St. James’ Park because the 18-year-old Yamal will not appear for Barca because of an injury the team said the Spain winger sustained on international duty last week.

Yamal, the heir to Lionel Messi at Barcelona, is key to the team’s chances of becoming European champion for the first time since 2015 so his abs

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