Key stats
- Barcelona have scored in their last 21 games in the Champions League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 22 games from 17th September 2014 to 5th April 2016.
- Newcastle have failed to win in their last five games in the Champions League, their longest winless streak in the competition (since at least 2004/2005).
- Since the start of last season Mohamed Salah (24) is the only Premier League player to record more assists from open play than Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy (15) across all competitions.
Highlights
Analysis
Marcus Rashford starred for Barcelona and received a Flashscore rating of 8.7 after scoring his first goals for the club.
Match report
A sea of black and white greeted the teams at St. James’ Park, and an extremely partisan crowd roared Newcastle to swarm all over Barcelona in the early stages.
Only Anthony Gordon will know how he didn’t connect with Anthony Elanga’s inviting cross to make the Magpies’ early superiority count, while Harvey Barnes needed the offside flag to save his embarrassment two minutes later after the winger allowed Joan García to get a hand to his shot. At the other end, Rashford almost silenced the home support with a driving run into the box, but his poor effort didn’t match the build-up.
As the match developed, Barça saw the lion’s share of possession but found it difficult to deal with the hosts’ much more physical game. A stunning break and cross from Elanga only needed Barnes to slide home for the opener, but García was equal to it once more.
Pedri’s influence began to grow, and just before the half-hour, Joelinton’s pull back on the midfielder earned him the first yellow card of the match. With Newcastle’s intensity starting to fade as HT approached, the visitors looked to seize the initiative, but Raphinha’s free-kick was wayward and epitomised their attacking woes before HT.
An early second-half corner caused Barça problems as the hosts threatened once more, whilst Fabian Schär took the full force of a Rashford rocket at the opposite end as the game began to open up. As the hour mark approached, the England international’s powerful header from Jules Koundé’s cross nestled in the far corner and opened his account for the Blaugrana.
It was Barcelona’s first shot on target and prompted four substitutions from Eddie Howe, one of which was new striker Nick Woltemade. Just nine minutes later, a stunning individual effort from Rashford thundered into the top corner and had Nick Pope rooted to the spot to silence the home crowd, giving the Manchester United loanee a 10th goal in 12 career starts against Newcastle (G7, A3) including six in seven starts at St. James’ Park.
The hosts needed inspiration from somewhere, and Bruno Guimarães almost provided it with a shot on 73’ that García was again equal to. Then, right on 90 minutes, Anthony Gordon managed to guide home a last-minute riposte from Jacob Murphy’s cutback to inspire hope of a last-gasp comeback. Barcelona held on though, leaving Newcastle with just one win in five matches across all competitions this term.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Rashford (Barcelona)
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Post-match reaction
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said to TNT Sports: "It was a fantastic atmosphere. We saw how Newcastle were playing with high intensity. It's what we expected. We had the confidence and believed in our strengths.
"It's very important to get three points from the beginning of the season. Last year we lost to Monaco. It helps us to get better and better.
"We always see (this from Rashford) in training and we saw it today. I'm happy for him. In the offence we have a lot of good players and he's one. I'm happy to have him. He gives us more options to follow the match.
"These two goals will help a lot to get Marcus to the next step. It's so important he has the confidence and feels okay. These goals are unbelievable for him for the next steps."
Barcelona striker Marcus Rashford told TNT Sports: "(Playing for Barcelona is an) amazing experience. I've always been a huge admirer of Barcelona. We want to win as much as possible.
"They (the fans) want to see the team win and play good football. This isn't an easy place to play football. The first half was cagey. It's very difficult to play against this team.
On scoring his second goal, he said: "It was a split second, I felt there was a gap. I thought try to get a shot off. Their player was trying to block it so I tried to lift it. I knew when I caught it it would take the keeper some going to stop it.
"I'm very motivated and determined. The quality we have in the team excites me. It's so refreshing to play with these players."