Exceptional task in the absence of the number 9: all of Barcelona's eyes on Gordon

The Englishman's abilities forged a consensus within the technical and administrative staff at the Catalan club. Three matches against Newcastle in the last edition of the Champions League had convinced head coach Hansi Flick and the sporting director.

Gordon scored Newcastle's only goal in the final minutes of the first match, a 2-1 Barcelona win, having played as an out-and-out striker.

Pain kept him out of the starting line-up for the first leg of the round of 16, another meeting at St James' Park that finished 1-1. He came on regardless in the 21st minute of the second half.

Back in his role as an out-and-out striker for the return leg at the Spotify Camp Nou, Gordon watched Barcelona's attacking brilliance during the second half. The Catalan side sealed qualification with a thumping 7-2 win, and he was substituted in the 81st minute.

A season spent tracking him confirmed that he possesses the qualities Flick prizes in his players, whatever their position: the ability to play at a high tempo, pace, defensive commitment and tactical flexibility.

Gordon is fundamentally a left winger. Against Barcelona, though, he lined up for most of the matches in advanced central positions, dictated by the flow of play and the demands of the fixtures.

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According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have lost the two forwards who scored 40 goals between them last season: Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski. During pre-season, 18-year-old Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim took on the role of the traditional out-and-out striker, netting twice on his first appearance in Birmingham. Until the window closes and Flick lands the centre-forward he wants, be it Julian Alvarez or someone else, the door stays open to every forward and attacking midfielder to push further into the box rather than settle for its edges or the flanks.

Gordon can do both jobs. Whether Flick hands him the chance on Sunday in his usual spot on the left wing, or deploys him where he often played against Barcelona last season, at the heart of the attack, remains to be seen.

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Gordon has an eye for goal, even if he is not an out-and-out striker in the traditional sense. He lives to find the back of the opponents' net. With the centre-forward Barcelona are waiting for yet to arrive through the transfer market, the indications are growing that Flick will ask all his attacking players to raise their goalscoring rates.

During his last season with Newcastle, Gordon scored 17 goals and provided 5 assists in 46 matches, his best tally so far in finishing off attacks.

In the 2024-2025 season, the player scored 9 goals and provided 7 assists in 42 matches.

The 2023-2024 campaign saw him net 12 goals and deliver 16 assists in 48 matches. In the 2022-2023 season, his last with Everton, Gordon scored 4 goals in 34 matches.

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Gordon's last official appearance made him, for a time, the scorer of the most important goal in English football in over 60 years.

Playing as an out-and-out striker, he scored England's goal in the World Cup semi-final. He followed up a cross at the far post and fired it straight in with his first touch, putting his country in the final for a long stretch of the match. England then lost to Argentina.

That ability to burst into empty spaces, to read exactly where a shootable ball might drop, is the quality Barcelona's fans want from Gordon against Basel.

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