Eddie Howe was left scratching his head after a “unusual” end result noticed Newcastle United dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona.
Hansi Flick’s aspect hammered their Premier League opponents 7-2 in Wednesday’s second leg, securing an 8-3 mixture triumph and place within the final eight.
However Newcastle regarded good worth within the first half with the sport stage at 2-2, because of Anthony Elanga’s first-half brace.
Lamine Yamal then restored Barca’s lead with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, and the LaLiga leaders didn’t look again from that time on, a lot to Howe’s dismay.
“A troublesome approach to exit. Actually unusual to attempt to sum that up as a result of first half, I believed we had been glorious,” Howe informed TNT Sports activities.
“Numerous particular person errors which have finally price us. Within the second half, we had been nowhere close to pretty much as good as within the first. They deserved to undergo.”
2 – Anthony Elanga is barely the second participant to attain twice in a UEFA Champions League away match at Camp Nou for an English membership, after Dwight Yorke for Manchester United in November 1998. Stage. pic.twitter.com/b5WbsLBNUu
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 18, 2026
Elanga is barely the second participant to attain twice in a Champions League away match at Camp Nou for an English membership, after Dwight Yorke for Manchester United in November 1998.
And the Newcastle winger’s efficiency gave the guests some confidence, regardless of Raphinha’s opener and Marc Bernal’s end sending them again forward, with Elanga twice equalising.
However defensive frailties got here again to hang-out Howe’s aspect as Raphinha obtained on the scoresheet once more, with Robert Lewandowski additionally twice on track after Fermin Lopez’s 51st-minute end.
Certainly, Newcastle’s seven targets conceded is the joint-most ever by an English crew in a serious European competitors match, together with Tottenham of their 7-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in October 2019.
Their five-goal defeat can also be the joint-heaviest suffered by an English aspect in a European Cup/Champions League match, together with Leicester Metropolis dropping 5-0 to Porto (December 2016) and Tottenham’s 7-2 loss in opposition to Bayern (October 2019).
Nevertheless, Howe feels the conflict considerably flipped on its head via Yamal’s penalty, which despatched Barca in on the break forward after Kieran Trippier pulled down an onrushing Raphinha.
“Psychologically, that was a troublesome one for the lads, proper on half-time,” the Newcastle boss added.
“Similar to what occurred on the finish of the sport within the first leg. So psychologically, we didn’t appear to recuperate from that second.”