Newcastle denied by Yamal on mixed night for clubs

Alex Keble looks back at Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg between Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Newcastle United 1-1 Barcelona

Lamine Yamal’s late penalty for Barcelona broke Newcastle United’s hearts at St James’ Park, denying the home side a famous victory.

For so long Newcastle looked set to succeed, following a fighting performance led by the brilliant Lewis Hall, who kept Yamal quiet and led a flurry of late pressure which was finally revealed when a superb cross from Jacob Murphy found Harvey Barnes, who guided the ball into the corner to send the home fans into delirium.

Yamal canceled it out with the last kick of the game, but when the dust settles Newcastle will be feeling quietly confident they can finish the job at the Camp Nou next week.

After a chaotic start to the period, the match devolved into a pattern of Barcelona probing with the ball and Newcastle counter-attacking at every opportunity on both flanks – a strategy which bodes well for the second leg.

Barcelona will go even further at home, leaving even more space behind their high line.

They received a lot of encouragement this evening. This could continue next week – and yet could result in a place in the quarter-finals.

Before flying to Spain, they must travel to Chelsea on Saturday in the league.

See: Newcastle report

Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool

A repeat of Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray in the league stage in September has left Arne Slot’s side with plenty to do, although they will aim to turn things around at Anfield next Wednesday, with fans of the Turkish club banned for the second leg.

Galatasaray always makes it difficult at home and this was no different. They have lost only two of their 22 home matches in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League round of 16, the last defeat coming in 1973.

It was a deserved victory for the hosts in a 90 minutes filled with chances – the majority for Galatasaray – and two disallowed goals, one for each team.

Former Southampton and Fulham midfielder Mario Lemina scored the only goal in the seventh minute, meeting a Victor Osimhen header from a corner to stun the Premier League side. It was the 12th time this season in all competitions that Liverpool had lost after conceding the first game, equaling their tally from 2015/16.

It will have left Slot disappointed, but he will back his players to get the job done in front of just the Liverpool fans. After all, Anfield under the lights provided some of the greatest Champions League nights in the competition’s history.

“I don’t think it’s possible that if I watch the last two games that as many things could go against us as happened in the last two games, although sometimes I wonder if I watch this season,” Slot said. “But things will be more normal in a home game for us. And I also think we can improve our performance and that, with the help of our fans, must lead to a big game in a week’s time.”

Before that, they have a chance to get back to winning ways at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

See: Liverpool report

Atlético de Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Igor Tudor’s difficult debut at Tottenham Hotspur continued as his side lost 5-2 at Atletico Madrid.

Spurs endured a horror first quarter, conceding three goals in the space of nine minutes.

Antonin Kinsky, selected in goal instead of Guglielmo Vicario, was at fault for the first and third goals and was replaced by Vicario in the 17th minute. In between, Micky Van de Ven suffered an unfortunate slip to allow Antoine Griezmann to make it 2-0.

Vicario couldn’t stop a fourth Atletico goal in the 22nd minute, but Spurs pulled one back four minutes later through Pedro Porro.

Spurs’ youngest XI in their Champions League last 16 history, at 25 years and 24 days, recovered well and almost scored the first goal after the break, only for Atleti’s Julian Alvarez to add the fifth just seconds after Richarlison’s header had been saved.

Dominic Solanke scored late to keep Spurs level. They will need a comeback similar to that famous night at Ajax in the semi-final in 2019, when a three-goal deficit was overcome.

See: Spurs report

Arsenal, Chelsea and City in action

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City will be hoping for more success in the round of 16 on Wednesday night.

Arsenal travel to Bayer Leverkusen early in the 17:30 GMT kick-off, before Paris Saint-Germain host Chelsea and Real Madrid entertain City, both at 20:00.

See: How the results affected England’s coefficient rankings

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