Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle United: Eddie Howe has shared his thoughts following Newcastle’s biggest ever European defeat.
The Magpies twice bounced back to get the match to 2-2 with Anthony Elanga’s first half brace cancelling out goals from Raphinha and Marc Bernal.
Lamine Yamal’s penalty put Barcelona 3-2 ahead at half-time before the hosts ran riot in the second half at Camp Nou.
Fermin Lopez, two from Robert Lewandowski and another from Raphinha saw Barcelona advance comfortably through to the quarter-finals while Newcastle were knocked out with a whimper, having reached the knockout stages of the competition for the first time.
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Eddie Howe on Barcelona defeat in Champions League
Reflecting on the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: “The defending today was not at the level that it was just a few days ago at Chelsea.
“Starting with the first goal where two players slipped, then we could see it set play, then probably the big one was the penalty.
“So as well as we played in the first half and I thought we were outstanding in many aspects, it was really a great representation of how we want to play.
“If we performed anywhere near or defended anywhere near the level we can, I think we would have been leading at half-time.
“The second half we said we didn't have the same energy and when the game was effectively over, we didn't react well to that moment either.
“So it became a very, very difficult second half. And even changing to play lower and deeper in a compact space didn't really help us in our efforts.”
Eddie Howe looks ahead to Sunderland
Newcastle now turn their attention solely to the Premier League as they look to secure a quick return to Europe for next season. They will be looking to make it three league wins in a row when they host rivals Sunderland at St James’ Park on Sunday (12pm kick-off).
“As much as today is a harsh scoreline on us and a painful experience, to see the players play the way we did in the first half and execute 90% of what we wanted was a great feeling and a great sight,” Howe said.
“I think that should all be forgotten but the scoreline is as difficult as that is for everyone to see. Certainly in the first 45 minutes that's not reflective of how we performed.”
Looking ahead to Sunderland, Howe added: “Yeah it's huge. I think it's difficult for me to talk about it. I think we've just got to play. We've got to play like our lives depend on it.
“It's such a big game for the city, for our supporters, for everyone connected to the club. We know that, we knew that before the first game, we know it even more now. So we need to deal with this very quickly and then look to Sunday.”
Newcastle head into the Sunderland game sitting ninth in the Premier League table with eight games left to play.
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