Barcelona Wound Newcastle At The Death
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
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
For some reason im not taking it as a kick in the nuts. I'd have felt like we'd never of defended a 0-1 lead. The way I see it was an injustice, away goals don't count and we're the better team. We'll do them over there 🏴🏳️
That game was ours to own and a 2-0 victory would have been if we had made some final passes quicker and finished better.
Why oh why don't we clear the decks late on. Stop giving the ball away and learn to put the ball deep into the opposition half.
So frustrating.
Osula and Elanga earned plaudits for their performance.
Barca were crap but still got a draw. That's a real puss take.
Ramsdale had little to do all night. They got what they came for and we helped them.
Hall was MOTM, sensational.
I'm taking a massive positive from that, going in to a 0-1 lead might have made us have a different mentality, we were the far better team and the injustice will steel us.
Once again we seem unable to muster the troops for these final minutes
Just put the ball into touch at their end as it's difficult to build attacks from throw ins deep in your own territory. In rugby it's the classic defence. Kick deep into touch. Throw ins eat up time and can be difficult to build any shape from The ball is often loose or goes back into touch.
Not only does it use up time effectively it puts the opposition on the back foot.
Please can we learn and use this tactic.
Watching us piss away good results is draining.
It's also the difference between us and the so called elite teams.
A right kick in the nuts 😵💫
Hopefully the swelling goes down for the re-match and we can return the compliment!