Late, late Lamine Yamal penalty breaks Newcastle hearts

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal scores the equaliser from the penalty spot. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire.

Champions League: Newcastle 1 Barcelona 1 

ALAN Shearer predicted goals and Tino Asprilla came to see them but they were kept waiting until a late flurry left Newcastle with work to do in the Catalan capital next week.

Lamine Yamal's stoppage-time equaliser from the penalty spot makes Barcelona strong favourites to progress to the last eight from the second leg on a night of what might have been for Eddie Howe's side after Harvey Barnes gave them an 86th-minute lead.

Yamal sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to level after Malick Thiaw's trip on Dani Olmo at the culmination of a tense contest in which Howe must have wished for the most part that he could have called on Tyneside legends Shearer and Asprilla in their prime.

Joelinton had the ball in the net as the final 10 minutes approached after following up when Barnes' curling effort came back off the post, but the Brazilian was clearly offside.

The winger showed his team-mate how it should be done soon after, volleying home Jacob Murphy's sublime cross to reward Newcastle's endeavour before the celebratory atmosphere was punctured right at the death.

Asprilla took his place in the stands and how his old team could have done with the kind of cutting edge famously provided by the Colombian's celebrated hat-trick when the Catalans were put to the sword here getting on for 30 years ago.

Anthony Gordon looked on from the dugout after being withdrawn from the starting line-up during the pre-match warm-up as he reported feeling ill during the pre-match warm-up.

The former Everton forward was joined on the bench by Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa in a damning indictment of the hosts' summer recruitment as the misfiring pair were ignored in favour of Will Osula, the former Sheffield United striker who cost a fraction of the largely ineffectual £125m pair.

Newcastle United's Harvey Barnes (centre) celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game with teammates. Pic: Steve Welsh/PA Wire.

For all Newcastle's early pressure in a predictably barn-storming start, it was the visitors who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first 25 minutes courtesy of Dan Burn.

The England centre-back came perilously close to putting through his own goal when sticking out a right leg to inadvertently redirect a cross inches wide of Ramsdale's left-hand post.

Barcelona gradually began to find their feet after successfully weathering the early storm and Yamal cut in purposefully from the right to almost embarrass Ramsdale at his near post with a fizzing shot into the side-netting.

Newcastle continued to be guided with hearts rather than heads and were guilty of getting regularly caught out by Barcelona's well-drilled offside trap to prematurely halt promising situations.

Fermin Lopez should have done much better when the unmarked midfielder fired straight at Ramsdale from a dozen yards.

Osula put himself about well, and narrowly failed to reach an inviting Anthony Elanga centre across the face of goal in a late flourish to a half where Newcastle noticeably faded.

The Swedish winger enjoyed one of his more productive 45 minutes in what has been an underwhelming campaign since his £55m arrival from Nottingham Forest, although his risible attempts to win a penalty by going to ground shortly afterwards thankfully failed to fool the Italian officials.

Robert Lewandowski was anonymous for more than an hour, but he almost remedied that as the final 20 minutes approached. The Pole evaded his markers to apply a deft touch to Raphinha's low ball into the box, only for his effort to drift narrowly wide.

Howe threw on a trio of substitutes in an attempt to breathe life into a flagging performance and one of those, Jacob Murphy, could have made an immediate impact, only to wastefully volley an inviting Lewis Hall centre into the Gallowgate End.

Murphy made amends with a searching centre gleefully converted by Barnes for his 14th goal of the season with a shot Garcia should have saved, before the late penalty drama left Newcastle with it all to do to keep their season alive next week.

Meanwhile, Michael Olise grabbed a brace as Bayern Munich hammered Italian outfit Atalanta 6-2 in Bergamo. 

Newcastle (4-3-3): Ramsdale 7; Trippier 6 (Livramento 67, 6), Thiaw 7, Burn 7, Hall 8; Ramsey 6, Tonali 7, Joelinton 7; Elanga 5 (Murphy 67, 7), Osula 6 (Gordon 67, 6), Barnes 8 (Willock 90, 6). 

Booked: Tonali, Willock.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Garcia 6; Cancelo 7, Araujo 6 (Espart 88, 5), Cubarsi 7, Martin 7; Pedri 6 (Olmo 70, 6), Bernal 6 (Casado 73, 6); Yamal, Lopez (Torres 88, 5), Raphinha; Lewandowski 5 (Rashford 70, 5). 

Booked: Cancelo.

Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)