Howe reveals his 'devastation' after late penalty denies famous win over Barca

Eddie Howe spoke of his 'devastation' after Lamine Yamal snatched a draw for Barcelona with the last kick of the game at a raucous St James' Park.

Newcastle led in the 86th minute when Harvey Barnes scored a deserved opener for the hosts, only for Malick Thiaw to trip Dani Olmo in the 94th minute and Yamal converted from the penalty spot.

Howe said: 'I'm just devastated we could not get the win we deserved. That's football, it never plays to romance.

'There was so much good about our performance tonight, so much of us at our best. It was a great advert for us as a club on and off the pitch. We did our bit and the crowd did not let us down, they never do.

'So the last kick of the game, that is a tough one to take. If you switch off for a second, they will punish you. We had done so well defensively all night.'

Newcastle now travel to Spain for next Wednesday's second leg, and Howe said: 'The tie is very much alive. We've been competitive and shown we can play against the very best when we're at our best.'

He added: 'In the cold light of day when we wake up, we'll see the positives. The tie is very much alive, we played really well.

'We showed our qualities. We've been really competitive. The challenge is we need more on a consistent basis. We've showed we can play against the very best when we're at our best.'

Asked if he felt his team deserved more, Howe said: 'Yes, we do. A really good performance from the team, very, very good in all phases, really. I thought we limited them with a really good defensive performance from the team and I thought we attacked really well too.

'Although we didn't create an abundance of clear-cut chances, I thought there were chances all through the game for us.

'It was great to see us finally score and then the last attack of the game, the last kick of the game, it's a tough one to take.'

Hansi Flick's men, who won 2-1 at St James' in the first fixture of the group phase back in September, showed flashes of their brilliance and eventually emerged with something to show for their efforts.

But, having been under the cosh for long periods, were happy to leave on level terms.

Flick said: 'If you had asked me before the game with a 1-1, I was always happy.

'With the ball, we made not a good game. We lost too many balls, easy mistakes and this is what Newcastle only wants. When they get the ball, the transition they make is good, they have a lot of dynamic, very fast players, so it was not easy.

'But at the end, what I appreciated a lot from my team is that we defended together, the performance in defence was really good today.'