Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle [8-3 agg]: Raphinha stars as Newcastle crumble in second half
Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle [8-3 agg]: Raphinha stars as Newcastle crumble in second half After an impressive first-half performance from Newcastle, Barcelona ran riot after the break at the Spotify Camp Nou to claim a 7-2 win on the night and progress to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as 8-3 aggregate winners. Blows were exchanged throughout a frenetic opening 30 minutes in Catalunya, with Anthony Elanga twice restoring parity after the hosts had taken the lead. But Lamine Yamal’s penalty on the stroke of half time proved to be Newcastle’s downfall, with Eddie Howe’s men shipping a further four goals after the break to condemn themselves to a mammoth defeat in Europe’s elite club competition.
Barcelona will face Atlético Madrid or Tottenham in the quarter-finals. As it happened There are great games in the UEFA Champions League, and then there are games you simply cannot take your eyes off. This, by some margin, fell into the latter category – a fantastic advert for what this competition has to offer when two of the continent’s best teams go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all clash.
A bright start from the visitors at the Spotify Camp Nou saw Joan Garcia put to work early on, first picking up the pieces of Sandro Tonali’s free-kick before then grasping Dan Burn’s effort after a short corner. But Barcelona, buoyed by the majority of a 56,662-strong crowd, took the lead against the run of play in the 6th minute when slick buildup play saw Lamine Yamal drive past Malick Thiaw and thread a ball through for Raphinha, who capitalised on a slip from Lewis Hall to play a quick one-two with Fermín López and slot into the far corner. Newcastle responded well though and got back on the front foot within minutes, with Tonali able to whip in another free-kick from the left after Marc Bernal sent Harvey Barnes tumbling to the ground.
But it was Anthony Elanga who’d prove to be the visitors’ hero with a composed finish at the back post with quarter of an hour played in Catalunya. The left-hand side had served Newcastle well throughout their early forays forward and this was no exception, with Barnes and Hall combining for the winger to curl a low ball behind the Barça defence for Elanga to drive across the goalkeeper and restore parity. That parity lasted just three minutes, as Newcastle switched off from a set-piece to allow Raphinha’s delivery to find Gerard Martín on the left of the box, with his header across the face of goal poked home by teenager Marc Bernal to fire the blaugrana back into the lead.
Barcelona were swiftly undone by beautiful football from Eddie Howe’s men when a complacent Yamal opted for a backheel inside the hosts’ defensive third, handing possession to a lively Hall who combined once more with Barnes. His ball, threaded through the legs of substitute Ronald Araújo – who had replaced Eric García just minutes prior – was tucked home by Elanga at the far post. Yet there was still more life to be breathed into this thrilling Champions League knockout tie, as a confident Newcastle side sought to take the lead for the first time on the night.
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