Barcelona Wound Newcastle At The Death
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 11
They say attack is the best form of defence; try telling that to a Newcastle side who pushed for a second goal in the last minute only to be punished for their bravado.
Triumph followed by disaster
Yet again this season Newcastle went ahead only to concede a goal that denied the Toon and their fans a deserved victory.
And, there wasn't a goal any more sickening than the penalty scored by Barcelona.
The eleven that took the field raised eyebrows and sank hearts - a team shorn not only of Bruno but also of Anthony Gordon, with Osula preferred over Woltemade and Wissa.
Most Newcastle fans were expecting Barcelona to win at a canter.
Instead, it was the team in black and white who were at the races.
Time and again, almost from the kick off, the Lads galloped through the Barcelona lines and threatened to score. Elanga and Barnes couldn't be reined in.
Pre-match favourite Lamine Yamal rarely got his nose in front of Lewis Hall, and Barcelona were reduced to also rans against a Newcastle side roared on by a vociferous crowd who sensed that the winning post was in sight.
Deservedly ahead, cruelly levelled
Yet another superb break and passing movement released Jacob Murphy to whip in a cross on the run that was turned in at the far post by goal machine Harvey Barnes.
That goal and lead was a true reward for the tremendous performance that Newcastle had produced against one of the world's best teams in football's biggest competition.
Closing the game to a victory would have been not far behind the historic achievement of the legendary 3-2 win over Barcelona nearly 30 years ago.
But it was not to be.
Breaking up a last minute attack by Newcastle, Barcelona swarmed towards the Newcastle goal and with a trailing leg Malik Thiaw gave away a penalty.
This was the devastating last minute agony of PSG all over again.
There was never any doubt that Yamal would hammer home the equaliser and nail what should have been a glorious history making night into another evening of despair.
It's hard... but don't let our heads drop
Every man jack who was at the game, every man jack who watched it, every man jack in the Barcelona team, and ever man jack in their management and coaching staff know that Newcastle deserved to win the game.
We were the better side, no matter what any of the match stats show.
In football the best sides don;t always win. Tonight was one of those nights.
This has been a tough season, we are miles away from our best form, we've been beaten far too many times... but one thing this squad doesn't lack is belief and fight.
And they fought like hell against the mighty Barcelona.
Every Toon fan can, and damn well should, be proud of that performance.
There wasn't one player who didn't give his all and it is absolutely not a result where criticism should be levelled. No performance is perfect, but we got near it tonight.
Eddie Howe, he team, and every Toon fan can hold their heads high.
This tie isn't over yet.
And you can bet the team from Catalonia know that too.
Last Post: Barcelona Match Preview
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I think the team for barca next wednesday stays pretty much the same gordon aside for osula , barring any injuries in the chelsea game on saturday. Ideally livramento would be fully fit , but i cant see him being up to speed to starting at the nou camp. I wouldnt be surprised though he starts at stamford bridge and gets an hour so tripps can be more fresh for barca away. Wouldnt be surprised we see burn at left back and botman in LCB so hall gets a break too .
Midfield . Wouldnt shock me willock and woltemade start at chelsea , so ramsey and joelinton can go to the nou camp with a bit of time to…
Corrupt or just inept officiating last night. When the 4 minutes of added time was up I said to my son, the ref will play on until barca get a goal.
Wished I'd kept me gob shut!
Best performance of the season for me, and the atmosphere was full on right to the end. We were so unlucky not to win it, but the tie is alive and we can beat them out there.
We are now seeing some good form from Ramsey and Elanga, which hopefully they can build on into next season. I’m not going to be critical of Thiaw. He has consistently played well and has had to play more games than most since Schars injury. He was running on empty at the end.
So that just leaves the £125m conundrum that is Woltemade and Wissa. Let’s hope they get opportunities to show better form before the summer, but for now it’s Gordon or…