Ultimately, though, Barcelona’s brilliance told. With Lamine Yamal and Raphinha dancing their way through an often non-existent Newcastle defence, the La Liga leaders scored seven to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals and condemn the Magpies to their heaviest-ever European defeat.
Razor-sharp on the break in the first half, Newcastle were ripped apart in the second as Barcelona scored seemingly at will. The Spaniards can do that to anyone, but the scale of Newcastle’s defensive failings was nevertheless remarkable, with Jacob Ramsey’s pass straight to Raphinha for Barcelona’s seventh goal summing up the Magpies’ night in terms of their defending.
Kieran Trippier was hauled off at half-time to save him from further embarrassment after he was fortunate not to be sent off for conceding a penalty, Malick Thiaw was at fault for at least two of Barcelona’s goals, Dan Burn’s head was all over the place as Robert Lewandowski helped himself to two goals after the interval.
The sight of Sandro Tonali hobbling off four days before the Tyne-Wear derby heaped further misery onto the Magpies, who will spend the rest of the season trying to engineer a return to Europe via their league position. Unless something truly remarkable happens in the next two months, they won’t be returning to the Champions League stage next season.
They were behind after just six minutes here, with the defensive frailties that ultimately proved their undoing on display from the outset. Newcastle might have been able to survive Thiaw’s slip, which enabled Yamal to turn in the centre-circle, had it not been followed by another slip from Lewis Hall, which left a gaping hole at the heart of their backline. Raphinha received possession, and after playing a slick one-two with Fermin Lopez, the Brazilian curled a composed finish into the bottom corner.
How would Newcastle respond to such an early setback? Impressively. The visitors had troubled Barcelona on the break in the first leg at St James’, and their ability to attack with pace and purpose saw them fashion a goal that will be fondly remembered for years to come.
Harvey Barnes and Ramsey linked effectively on the left, with the former sending Hall galloping down the touchline. Hall slid a low cross across the face of the penalty area, and an unmarked Elanga clipped an excellent finish past Joan Garcia.
Newcastle’s travelling contingent of around 3,000 away fans were in ecstasy, but their joy was short-lived as Barcelona reclaimed their lead within three minutes of it being taken away from them. It was a disappointingly soft goal to concede from a United perspective, with Trippier leaving Gerard Martin completely unmarked as a free-kick was floated to the back post. Martin headed the ball back across goal, and Marc Bernal slotted home.
Behind for a second time, Newcastle could easily have crumbled. Instead, they set about tearing beyond Barcelona’s suicidally-high backline. Some of the link-up play between Barnes and Hall was sensational, and when Yamal gave the ball away playing an unnecessary back-heel in his own half, the pair pounced. Hall released Barnes down the left, and while the full-back wasn’t quite able to reach his team-mate’s cross, the ball reached Elanga, who tapped home his second goal of the game.
The drama was unrelenting. Elanga thought he should have had a penalty when he was pulled back by Cancelo, Anthony Gordon hooked a shot wide at the front post when he could easily have scored. At the other end, Burn made a brilliant sliding block to deny Lewandowski before Yamal somehow skied over from six yards.
It was utter chaos, with the final act of a remarkable first half leaving Newcastle trailing once again. Yamal released Lopez down the right, and when the midfielder crossed, Trippier held back Raphinha, who was breaking towards the six-yard line. A VAR check resulted in the award of a penalty – Trippier was only booked when he could easily have been sent off – and Yamal stepped up to score his second spot-kick of the tie.
Trippier’s difficult night was ended when he was replaced by Tino Livramento at half-time, but Newcastle’s torment intensified in the second half.
Barcelona’s fourth goal came seven minutes after the break and owed much to a wonderful first-time pass from Raphinha that sent Lopez galloping clear to slot home a low finish.
Lewandowski scored his side’s fifth and sixth in the space of five minutes, heading home at the back post from a corner before firing past Ramsdale after Thiaw made a mess of trying to cut out a through ball from Yamal. Raphinha scored the seventh after Ramsey’s dreadful pass handed him possession.