Rampant Barca leave Magpies trailing

Barcelona 3 Newcastle 1

However, the 69-year former Barca boss, who had walked into the stadium he knows so well with a lump in his throat, left it with his head held high after a side shorn of the services of suspended duo Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy briefly threatened to upset the odds and never gave up hope of a remarkable comeback.

Goals from Dani, Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta were more than enough to give the Spaniards the points and they might have won even more handsomely. But Shola Ameobi, who cancelled out Dani’s seventh-minute strike within 17 minutes, could have had hat-trick but for the efforts of keeper Roberto Bonano and Juan Riquelme’s goal-line clearance.