Newcastle United would have travelled to the Camp Nou on Wednesday night confident that they could compete with the might of their illustrious hosts.
After all, the Magpies were moments away from a famous Champions League win over Barcelona in the first leg, before Lamine Yamal intervened with a last-minute penalty.
Unfortunately, spurred on by their adoring masses, Hansi Flick's men ended up tearing a sorry Newcastle team to shreds, after such an even opening tie, with the second leg scoreline reading 7-2 in Barca's favour, to the dismay of the travelling Tyneside army.
It had started so positively, as well, with Anthony Elanga bagging himself a quickfire brace after just 28 minutes had been played.
Elanga-Trippier-Newcastle
But, the more the game chugged along, the more Newcastle's frail defence was being exploited and toyed with, with both Kieran Trippier and Lewis Hall - in particular - enduring awful nights in the shellshocked backline.
What went wrong for Trippier & Hall vs Barcelona
At 35 years of age, now, Trippier must be nearing the end of his lengthy Magpies journey.
He has been a loyal servant, with four goals and 29 assists coming his way across 156 outings, but this was a torrid night for the ex-Atletico Madrid man all the same, as he gave away the decisive penalty that allowed Barca to head into the break 3-2 up.
From that point on, it was largely one-way traffic, with Trippier rightly hauled off at the half-time interval, having failed to win a single tackle or duel. Moreover, he would give up possession a costly seven times, as Barca continually flooded forward with confidence.
On the opposite flank, Hall - who was arguably Newcastle's man-of-the-match in the opening tie - is just in the infancy of his career at 21 years of age.
Newcastle-2
He wouldn't be receiving much praise at the full-time whistle here, though, as he gave away possession 12 times and looked like a deer in the headlights compared to his assured showing at St James' Park.
The young full-back will look back on this game as a harsh lesson, with plenty more tricky Champions League ties no doubt coming his way across his career to come.
Newcastle-3
Staggeringly, there was one Newcastle defender who had an even more painful night, putting in his worst display to date under Eddie Howe.
Newcastle star endures his worst game under Howe
This shambolic performance couldn't have come at a worse possible time in Newcastle's loaded fixture list, with the Magpies having to dust themselves down quickly for the Tyne-Wear Derby up next.
At one point this season, Malick Thiaw would have been viewed as a shoo-in to start in such an intense game, having been labelled the "future of the club" by captain Bruno Guimaraes.
thiaw
Indeed, winning 5.1 duels won per game this campaign back in the Premier League, and a heroic display recently put in versus Chelsea to secure a valiant 1-0 win, Newcastle fans travelling to the Catalan giants would have been hopeful that their dependable talent would shut Barca out.
It didn't play out like that, in reality, with the wobbly German's performance strewn with errors and mistakes, instead, marking the lowest point of his Magpies stay so far.
Thiaw's performance in numbers
Stat
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Possession lost
Tackles won
Total duels won
Errors leading to goal
Dribbles
Shots
Unlike both Trippier and Hall, he did look competent with the ball at his feet in spurts, with possession only given up two times on his end but he did have fewer touches Ramsdale (51) which was an indication of just how dominant Barca were.
But, while Trippier was put out of his misery, and Hall held his own at points, the number 12 was a disaster throughout the one-sided second half, with an error on his end - when failing to intercept a through ball - handing Flick and Co an unbelievable sixth goal, courtesy of Robert Lewandowski.
Failing to win a single tackle, alongside winning just one paltry duel, Howe must now consider whether Thiaw is cut out for such a pressurised clash, such as the one coming against Sunderland, after having his confidence completely sapped from him in Spain.
Howe might back him to get back to his battling best against the Black Cats, on the other hand, as the bruised manager tries his utmost to view this loss as a blip, rather than a sign they'll collapse against Regis Le Bris' men, as well.
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