Newcastle United latest news: Hansi Flick has reacted to Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the Champions League.
Hansi Flick has praised his side’s defensive resilience at St James’ Park after they rescued a draw in the first-leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash against Newcastle United.
Lamine Yamal’s last-gasp penalty ensured that the two teams would head to Spain next week level and with all still to play for. After triumphing on Tyneside in September, Barca came up against a much sterner test on Tuesday night and very almost left with a deficit to overturn in the second half, but for that Yamal goal.
Flick was an animated character on the sidelines and despite the visitors getting the rub of the green from the decisions made by the referee and his team at St James’ Park, cut a frustrated figure at times as his side were battered and bruised by a full throttle Newcastle United performance.
Much like that match in September, the hosts came flying out of the blocks before being tempered by their opponents. However, Barca couldn’t build the momentum they managed in September on Tuesday night and rarely tested Aaron Ramsdale in the Magpies goal.
What the visitors did do really well, though, was limit Newcastle United in attacking areas. They also nullified their threat from set-pieces and that aspect of the game particularly impressed Flick: “With the ball, we made not a good game. We lost too many balls, easy mistakes, and this is what Newcastle normally want,” Flick said post-match.
“When they get the ball, the transition they make is good, they have a lot of dynamics, a lot of very fast players, so it was not easy, but in the end, what I appreciate a lot from my team is that we defend together. We defend, the performance in defence was really good today.”
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He added: “As I said before, it was not easy to come out and we made too many mistakes. So normally you can also see, you saw it in the game, when we had control of the ball, it was much easier for us, but it was not so many times.
“So it's like that, we have to accept it. But we have to do it much better next week.”
Eddie Howe’s instant reaction to Newcastle United v Barcelona
Whilst Flick and his side will head back to Spain knowing they came through a very tough test with a favourable result, Eddie Howe and his team now face the daunting task of needing to get a result at the Camp Nou. Yamal’s late penalty, though, will sting.
They were just seconds away from a famous victory but Howe backs his side to go to Spain and replicate that performance: “When we wake up tomorrow, I think we'll see all the positives rather than the negatives.
“The tie is very much alive. We've played really well. We've shown our qualities.
“We've been really competitive. As I said, the challenge for us is we need more of it on a consistent basis. That's easier said than done. But I think we've shown that we can play against the very best when we're at our best.”
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