Sense of missed opportunity for Newcastle after late Barca blow

The whistles from the crowd were deafening.

Newcastle United were just seconds away from a momentous win against Barcelona at St James' Park as the home support urged referee Marco Guida to blow up.

But there was still time for one final twist in the first leg of this dramatic Champions League last-16 tie, with Barcelona awarded a penalty in the 95th minute.

The ice-cool Lamine Yamal stepped up to send goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way and leave Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe crestfallen after the 1-1 draw.

"The last attack of the game," he sighed afterwards. "The last kick of the game."

Harvey Barnes was similarly stunned.

The Newcastle United forward must have thought he had written himself into folklore after firing his side in front with a first-time finish in the 85th minute.

Barnes had even walked off to a standing ovation, but he soon had his hands on his head on the bench as he watched the victory slip from Newcastle's grasp.

"The way it ended it is a tough one to take," he told TNT Sports. "But we have to remember it is only halfway through the tie."

Newcastle will certainly take heart from how they competed against Barcelona when they face the five-time winners in the return fixture next week.

Howe had challenged his players to seize the moment and follow in the footsteps of the team who famously defeated the La Liga leaders in 1997.

The whole side were on the cusp of doing just that after refusing to show Barcelona undue respect, and defending resolutely for so long.

Few typified that effort quite like the fearless Lewis Hall.

Full-backs far more experienced than the 21-year-old have had nightmares up against Lamine Yamal.

But Hall said he was "really looking forward" to testing himself against the Spaniard on the eve of this game - and he meant those words.

It is rather telling that Lamine Yamal was restricted to just one effort from open play, a shot from a tight angle in the first half, which Ramsdale palmed on to the side netting.

No wonder Howe hailed Hall's performance as "outstanding".

The same could be said for so many of Newcastle's players on a quiet night for Ramsdale, who only faced two shots on target.

Barcelona had triumphed at St James' Park in the opening game of the league phase, back in September, but they found this knockout tie an altogether different challenge.

Manager Hansi Flick was the first to acknowledge that - even after his side scored a late equaliser.

"With the ball we didn't make a good game," he said. "We lost too many balls.

"Easy mistakes and this is what Newcastle normally wants. When they get the ball, they transition.

"What they make is good. They have a lot of dynamic, very fast players."

Yet there is a reason this Newcastle side have not kept a clean sheet since January.

Although Raphinha was 35 yards from goal in the final seconds of the game, substitute Joe Willock did not get close enough to the former Leeds United forward.

The Brazilian had the second he needed to look up and play a pass to Dani Olmo which, somehow, took a handful of flagging Newcastle players out of the game.

Olmo jinked inside the box and a panicked Malick Thiaw stuck out a leg, leaving referee Guida with no other choice as he pointed to the spot.

St James' Park was stunned into silence for the first time all night.

"It was a great advert for us as football club on and off the pitch, but I'm just devastated for everybody that we couldn't get the win that we all deserved," Howe said.

"That's football for you. It never plays to romance. It does what it does and now we have to dust ourselves down, take the positives from the performance and try and hit that on a more consistent basis."

Newcastle felt a similar gut wrench on home soil after conceding stoppage-time winners against Liverpool and Arsenal earlier this season, and a late equaliser at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Yet it was rather telling that those supporters who stayed behind on Tuesday night applauded their players off the field as they attempted to lift them.

This tie is far from over, even if it is going to take a herculean effort from Newcastle at the Nou Camp next week.

Howe felt in the "cold light of day" his side would see such positives after they showed they can compete with the very best.

Barnes was staying similarly upbeat.

"It will be a different sort of game at their place but we know what we can do and we know when we are at our level how well we can play," he added.

"What a feeling it would have been to go there 1-0 up but we are level in the tie and all to play for."