Newcastle 1-1 Barcelona: Report, result and goals as Yamal breaks Magpies’ hearts with final kick

Lamine Yamal scored a penalty with the final kick of the game to deny Newcastle United a famous victory over Barcelona as the Blaugrana claimed a 1-1 draw from a pulsating first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at St James’ Park.

Newcastle went into the game understandably as heavy underdogs against the LaLiga leaders, but were also dreaming of a repeat of their 3-2 victory over the Blaugrana in 1997, in which Faustino Asprilla wrote his name into club legend with a hat-trick.

Asprilla flew in from Colombia to bear witnes to the spectacle on Tyneside, with the game a rematch of the opening game of the league phase of the competition, which saw Barca claim a 2-1 win.

This encounter followed a markedly similar pattern to that contest, with Newcastle dominating for long periods but struggling to take their chances.

Yet it looked as if they would claim a deserved victory when Harvey Barnes fired Newcastle in front in the 86th minute.

But there was a painful sting in the tail as Dani Olmo went over under a challenge from Malick Thiaw, with Yamal sending Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to score a goal that makes Newcastle’s assignment at Camp Nou all the more difficult.