Barnes: Newcastle Can Make History Against Barcelona In Camp Nou

‎Harvey Barnes says Newcastle United are well-positioned to achieve something historic against Barcelona after proving they could match them in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

‎His 86th-minute strike at St James’ Park gave Newcastle the lead before Lamine Yamal equalised with a penalty in the final seconds of stoppage time.

‎Despite the late setback, Barnes insists Newcastle were the superior side on the night.‎ The squad will travel to the Camp Nou for next Wednesday’s second leg with strong belief and momentum.

‎Lewis Hall inspired Newcastle United with a commanding performance at left-back, helping them handle the pressure of their first Champions League knockout match.

Newcastle limited Barcelona to just nine shots, two on target, and an expected goals (xG) of 0.46 in open play, making it difficult for the visitors to find a passing rhythm.

While Newcastle didn’t generate many clear-cut chances, they played assertively, particularly in the early stages and after halftime, registering 16 shots, four on target.

‎Their key task for the second leg will be to convert more of these opportunities and show greater clinical efficiency.

‎“It is still wide open,” Barnes said.

‎“It would have been amazing to go there with a 1-0 lead but we’re level, we’ve got a chance to take the game to them and see where we’re at. We’re a team full of self-belief and there are so many positives to take.

‎”Next week we’ll be bang up for it. For a lot of the game, we were the better side, we controlled big parts of it, and looked really dangerous.

‎“We’ve shown it time and time again that when we play at our top, top level we can compete with these top teams. There’s been too many occasions this season where we’ve dropped below those levels and it’s cost us in the league but in the Champions League we have hit our top form.”

‎Barnes, who has scored 14 goals this season, six in the Champions League, was asked how he and his teammates had addressed the issue of the lofty reputations of their Barcelona counterparts.

‎“You’ve got to respect the quality that they have but not respect them on the pitch,” he said.

‎“We pressed them from minute one and tried to do that the whole game. You can’t let them come here, dictate the game, and show their class.

‎”You’ve got to make it horrible and ugly for them. We limited their chances and limited their ball in and around the box and that’s credit to the whole team.”