Credit: PA Images
In the immortal words of cinema's greatest fictional TV Presenter, Anchorman's Ron Burgundy: "Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast."
Newcastle United are out of the Champions League after a fever dream at the Camp Nou.
There they were, a little unlucky to be 3-2 down at half time after a breathless, brilliant first half in which they'd landed some serious punches on Barcelona, in Barcelona.
But a little more than 10 minutes into the second half the game and the tie had gone. Fast forward another 15 minutes and everything had gone, including discipline and dignity.
For those who grew up with old fashioned football scores on telly, or in the papers, Barcelona needed brackets. 7(seven)-2.
The Magpies were good enough to match Barcelona from gun to tape in last week's first leg at St James Park, but only good enough to match them for half a game at the Camp Nou.
Newcastle were motoring, then they conked out. A great match became a mismatch. You could say it was a tactical thing, a squad thing, a schedule thing or a fatigue thing.
You can point out that Barcelona are just fundamentally the better side. But none of that really explains the Jekyll and Hyde scenario that unfolded.
It was just a game of two halves I suppose (sorry).
We all wondered beforehand if the Magpies could win and for a while it looked like they could.
It turned out they couldn't.
It was tough on Newcastle's magnificent travelling fans who had hope one minute and nothing the next. But this Champions League campaign has been an often joyful endeavour and another useful learning curve.
Everyone in Black and White enjoyed mixing with European Football royalty this week, but they left with a reminder of how far away they still are from joining the elite.
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