Anthony Elanga calls for a response as Newcastle turn focus to Sunderland after heavy Barcelona defeat
The Magpies were heavily beaten 7-2 at the Camp Nou, crashing out of the competition 8-3 on aggregate despite competing strongly for large parts of the first half. Elanga scored twice on the night to keep Newcastle in the tie early on, but the second-half collapse ultimately proved decisive.
Now, with Sunderland next up, the winger says there can be no lingering on the defeat. “We have to. For the fans who travelled here and sang for 90 minutes even when we were five or six goals down, we owe them,” Elanga said. “We can’t dwell on this. We’ll look at the mistakes, but tomorrow morning the focus has to switch entirely to Sunday. That’s a game for the city, and we have to show a reaction.”
Elanga admitted Barcelona were simply too strong after the break, with Newcastle unable to cope once the game swung in the hosts’ favour. “We have to be honest - they were better,” he said. “They changed gears, definitely. They started moving the ball much faster, and the penalty just before half-time was a massive blow.
“Psychologically, it’s tough to go into the dressing room trailing after working so hard to get level twice. In the second half, they just suffocated us. They kept the ball, they forced us to run, and when we got tired, they were clinical. Every mistake we made, they scored. It felt like we couldn’t breathe out there at times.”
The defeat was described by Elanga as one of the toughest moments of his career so far, with the winger acknowledging the scale of the challenge Newcastle now face. “We are a growing team, and this is a massive learning curve. It’s a painful one, the most painful of my career so far, but we have to take it on the chin,” he added.
Newcastle had matched Barcelona for long periods before the break, but Elanga admitted the fine margins at elite level were exposed in the second half. “It’s hard to find words right now, to be honest. It’s a shame we lost in the manner we did. We came here with a plan, and for the first 45 minutes, I think everyone saw that we were firmly in the game. We matched them, we transitioned well, and we showed we belong at this level. But at this level, if you switch off for ten minutes, teams like Barcelona don’t just beat you - they punish you until there's nothing left.”
Despite scoring twice, Elanga insisted personal contributions offered little comfort given the outcome. “Individual milestones don’t mean much when you’re out of the competition. I’d trade both goals for a win or even just a closer result. The first goal was about the space - we knew their line would be high. The second, I just tried to stay alert when the ball fell loose. But like I said, those goals don’t matter now. We failed as a unit in the second half.”
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