Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal struck from the spot with the final kick of the match to rescue a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, canceling out a late goal from Harvey Barnes.
Newcastle looked set to take a slim lead in the second leg after Barnes scored in the 86th minute when he whipped in Jacob Murphy’s cross.
But the home fans’ elation turned to heartbreak when Malick Thiaw brought Dani Olmo into the penalty area in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
18-year-old Yamal, who had been quiet all night, fired the penalty into the bottom corner when goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale dived the wrong way.
“Really tough,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told TNT Sports. «I thought we were excellent, a very good performance against a very good team. We kept the intensity up, which is very difficult to do against them so long into the game.»
«The moment at the end obviously puts that in a negative light. I don’t want this to undo the 93 minutes beforehand, in which we played so well.»
Newcastle’s Joelinton thought he had scored earlier in the second half when he whipped home the rebound from Barnes’ shot against the post, but the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside.
The second leg is on March 18 in Barcelona.
Newcastle, which was defeated 2-1 by its Spanish opponent in the first league match at home this season, had to go through the play-offs in the knockout phase, while Barcelona qualified directly for the last sixteen.
However, Newcastle were the better side on Tuesday in what Howe had previously said would be his team’s biggest match at St James’ Park in recent memory.
The visitors were regularly troubled by the pace of Barnes, Anthony Elanga and William Osula, but squandered several brilliant chances. One came from an Elanga cross that lay just beyond Osula’s outstretched leg.
Barcelona rarely got past Newcastle’s back four, with Robert Lewandowski narrowly missing the visitor’s best chance of the night when he poked Raphinha’s cross just wide of the far post in the second half.
However, it was thanks to Yamal that he ensured that the second leg was played at home in the sixth minute of injury time.
Published on March 11, 2026
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