Barcelona 7 Newcastle 2 (8-3)
Even first half at the Camp Nou. Newcastle actually started off the better side in the opening stages but it was Barcelona who scored the first goal of the evening as two slips from Newcastle allowed Fermin Lopez to pass back to Raphinha who calmly slotted home past Ramsdale to make it 1-0 to Barca in the 6th minute. It didn’t take long for Newcastle to respond as Lewis Hall played the ball in behind the Barca line to Anthony Elanga who’s finish was composed past Joan Garcia to even the tie in the 14th minute, just as Newcastle were getting a foothold their concentration slipped from a free-kick allowing Gerard Martin a free run into the box as his header found Marc Bernal in the six-yard-box who had a pretty easy finish in the end to make it 2-1 to Barca just three minutes after Newcastle equalised. Ten minutes later a poor giveaway from Lamine Yamal allowed Newcastle to spring forward as Harvey Barnes ran into the box and played the ball across for Anthony Elanga to grab his second of the evening and even the tie yet again. Just as Newcastle were going to go into half-time on level terms a trademark Lamine Yamal trivela pass found Fermin Lopez in behind who played a ball across the box to where he thought Raphinha was running too only for the Brazilian to be held back by Trippier as he attempted to get on the end of the cross, a penalty wasn’t given on-field but after a VAR review the referee gave Barca a penalty that Lamine Yamal dispatched just as Ramsdale got a hand to the ball, plenty to play for in the second half for Newcastle.
A second half capitulation from Newcastle. It didn’t take long for Barca to add a fourth as Newcastle were torn apart by a brilliant Barcelona move as the ball got played up to Raphinha who turned it round the corner to Fermin Lopez who ran clean through and cooly finished past Ramsdale to put Barca 4-2 up on the night in the 50th minute. Newcastle were then undone by another set-piece as Raphinha’s corner found Lewandowski at the far post to finish the tie as Barca made it 5-2 just five minutes after the fourth. As if things couldn’t get worse for Newcastle just a few minutes after the fifth Lamine Yamal found Lewandowski in behind who was never going to miss and finished brilliantly past Ramsdale to put Barca 6-2 up on what was quickly becoming a night to forget for Eddie Howe. Then to add insult to injury Jacob Ramsey played a quite baffling pass across his own box which was cut out by Raphinha who had all the time in the world to score Barca’s seventh of the night and add a cherry on top of an already memorable night at the Camp Nou for Barcelona.
A tough night for Eddie Howe’s side in Barcelona. For 3 out of 4 halves Newcastle more than took the game to Barcelona in this tie but I guess the quality was always going to shine through from one of the favourites for the competition, defensively Newcastle were a complete disaster in that second half as Barcelona just dismantled them over and over like they’ve done to so many other sides under Hansi Flick over the last two years. One positive from the game is Anthony Elanga’s performance and Eddie Howe will be hoping this can be the springboard for his Newcastle career which hasn’t really taken off as of yet, people will point to the clean sheet they kept at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and wonder why they couldn’t replicate that performance today but Barca are just scintillating at the Camp Nou and will continue to dismantle teams there this season, a bruising night for Newcastle but one to learn from for Eddie Howe and his team.
A complete turnaround from last weeks performance from Barcelona. At St James Park last week Barcelona’s attack in particular was awful as Yamal, Raphinha, Fermin and Lewandowski all had well below-par performances but at the Camp Nou tonight it was completely different story as they demolished what was a pretty resolute Newcastle defence before tonight. Raphinha looked a different player tonight enthused after his hat-trick on the weekend against Sevilla grabbing two goals and two assists in a man-of-the-match performance from the Brazilian, Lewandowski looked ready to retire in the first half as he was miles off the pace but took his two goals brilliantly in the second half showing he still has plenty to offer Hansi Flick for at least the rest of this season. It wasn’t a 10/10 performance from Lamine Yamal but the pass in behind to unlock the Newcastle defence for the penalty was outrageous and is a cheat code really as its an undefendable pass for the defender. Overall a great result and performance for Barcelona who move onto the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid or Spurs next for Barcelona. I’m 99% sure it will be Atletico Madrid in the next round but you never know what could happen at the Tottenham Hotspur Arena tonight but barring a miracle it will be a rematch of the Copa Del Rey Semi-Final we saw last month where Atletico went through 4-3 on aggregate after a major scare at the Camp Nou where they nearly bottled a 4-goal lead. The first leg will be played at the Metropolitano and Hansi Flick will be keen not to see a repeat of the first leg in the Copa Del Rey were Barca got battered on the night and in the end couldn’t complete the comeback at the Camp Nou despite their best efforts. Simeone has had the better of Barcelona in the Champions League knocking them out on the way to the final in 2014 and 2016 despite going into neither of those ties as favourites, a lot has changed since then but Atleti will be confident going into that tie after what happened last month, looking forward to a great tie in April.