Newcastle Slug It Out With Barcelona In UEFA Champions League R16 First-Leg Clash

Newcastle United delivered a plausible performance in the UEFA Champions  League Round of 16, sharing spoils with Barcelona in a 1-1 draw in the first-leg tie at Goodison Park. 

The Magpies reached the knockouts on the back of playoffs, neatly routing Qarabag FK in the two-legged ties. Barcelona, who advanced to the knockouts by qualifying, had a taste of the Premier League side's fighting acumen. The Spaniards hanged in the balance and were fortunate to find a spot-kick from a wrong tackle on Dani Olmo. 

However, it took a while before Newcastle broke the deadlock when Jacob Murphy's cross set off the scoring moment for Harvey Barnes. Murphy, who replaced Anthony Elanga, bolted down the right, crossing the ball into the six-yard box. On-rushing Barnes reached the ball in flight inside the area and finished off in one touch. 

Barcelona responded quickly but through a penalty. The Spaniards broke through the centre, and Olmo advanced into the box but was dropped. Lamine Yamal converted the spot-kick to restore level terms for Barcelona in injury time.    

Newcastle almost got a payback from Barcelona, who defeated them back-to-back in previous encounters in the Group stage clash of the 2002/3 UEFA Champions League. Barcelona will host 

Overview 

It was an unimpressive outing for Barcelona at Goodison Park. The Magpies really put the Spaniards to work, terrifying their defensive Anthony Elanga. Newcastle had better chances for the most part of the first half to end the deadlock. However, Joan Gracia made a couple of brilliant saves to keep the game level. 

Barcelona were unable to keep their grip on the midfield. leading to Lamine Yamal being impeded from doing his trick, nor could Raphinha connect Robert Lewandowski with the ball. Joelington did a great job keeping the tavs on Yamal. Raphimha had a tough day having to deal with Elanga. The Magpies had good recovery of the ball after losing possession and that put pressure on the Spaniards.