Lamine Yamal’s late strike for Barcelona proves challenging for Newcastle.
Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes remarked that Lamine Yamal’s penalty, which prevented them from securing victory with the last kick in the first leg of their last-16 matchup against Barcelona, was “really hard to take.”
Five-time European champions Barcelona was mere seconds away from a loss when Malick Thiaw fouled Dani Olmo in the penalty area.
Referee Marco Guida awarded a penalty, and 18-year-old Yamal displayed remarkable composure to convert past Aaron Ramsdale, despite the home crowd urging him to fail. His goal came in the 96th minute, with the full-time whistle sounding immediately after his penalty.
This marked the second-latest game-tying penalty in Champions League history, following Kylian Mbappé’s equalizer for Paris Saint-Germain against Newcastle in the 98th minute in 2023.
Newcastle had taken the lead with Barnes’ close-range strike in the 86th minute. The forward had previously struck the post with a curling shot.
“It’s tough. You score and it’s an amazing feeling — you can feel the fans. We’d played really well,” Barnes stated following the 1-1 draw. “To concede late on is really hard to take, but the score is level and we have a second leg to come.”
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe characterized the equalizer as “soft” and, when asked if he believed his team deserved more, replied: “Yes, we do.”
He continued, “A really good performance from the team, very, very good in all phases, really. I thought we limited them with a really good defensive performance from the team and I thought we attacked really well too.
“Although we didn’t create an abundance of clear-cut chances, I thought there were opportunities throughout the game for us.
“It was great to see us finally score, and then the last attack of the game, the last kick of the game, it’s a tough one to take.”
However, Howe expressed confidence that they can pose significant challenges for Hansi Flick’s side on their home ground when the second leg occurs at the Camp Nou next week.
“In the cold light of day when we wake up tomorrow, we’ll see the positives. The tie is very much alive; we played really well,” he noted.
“We demonstrated our qualities. We’ve been very competitive. The challenge is we need to maintain that level consistently. We’ve shown we can compete against the very best when we perform at our best.”
Barcelona, who won 2-1 at St James’ in the first match of the group phase back in September, exhibited moments of their brilliance and ultimately left with something to show for their efforts.
However, they faced pressure for extended periods and were content to depart with a draw.
“If you had asked me before the game about a 1-1 result, I would have been satisfied,” head coach Flick stated.
“I am more pleased with the result, to be honest. With the ball, we did not perform well. We lost too many balls, made easy mistakes.
“It was not easy. We made too many errors. You could see it in the game. When we controlled the ball, it was much easier for us. But it wasn’t sufficient. We need to improve significantly for next week.”
The Associated Press, PA and ESPN’s Sam Marsden contributed to this report.
