BARCELONA 7-2 NEWCASTLE (8-3 ON AGG): Eddie Howe's team were ultimately outclassed at the Nou Camp, as they were dumped out of the Champions League by a massive margin
Swashbuckling Barcelona annihilated Newcastle with a rampant second-half display, winning their Champions League round-of-16 second leg 7-2. Just under lucky 3,000 members of the Toon Army flocked to the Nou Camp hoping to witness history, but instead their dreams were crushed.
A five-goal first half saw Newcastle equalise level the scores twice through Anthony Elanga, as the Magpies exploited Barcelona's high line. But a penalty from Lamine Yamal, given away by a desperate Kieran Trippier, had the hosts ahead at the break.
But a goal from Fermin Lopez, two from Robert Lewandowski and another from Raphinha in the second half rendered a fiercely-competitive tie look one-sided. Newcastle follow Manchester City and Chelsea in exiting the competition before the last eight.
Eddie Howe was boosted by the return of Sandro Tonali, who missed Saturday's 1-0 win away to Chelsea, while Anthony Gordon was named in the XI after starting last week's first leg on the bench. For Hansi Flick, he was able to recall Eric Garcia after the ex-Manchester City defender recovered from injury.
Here are five talking points from the Nou Camp.
1. Elanga brace caps barnstorming start
It was an encouraging first few passages from Newcastle, playing in Barcelona's half and even forcing Joan Garcia into an early save. But it didn't last long.
On their first attack, Barca broke the deadlock after Yamal smartly turned Malick Thiaw and burst towards the final third. His pass looked set to be cut out by Lewis Hall, only for the Newcastle left-back to slip and allow Raphinha to play a one-two with Lopez, curling his shot around Dan Burn and into the back of the net.
The Magpies didn't let the opener clip their wings, levelling through Elanga within nine minutes. Getting in behind Barcelona's high line, Hall played a brilliant pass for the Sweden international to latch onto, and he coolly slotted past Garcia.
The away section had barely stopped celebrating when Flick's side restored their lead. Poor defending allowed Gerard Martin to head Raphinha's free-kick back across goal, and Bernal found himself free as a bird to slot home and make it 2-1.
Newcastle responded again, though, as Elanga finished off an excellent move again involving Hall. The England hopeful intercepted Yamal's back-heel and fed Harvey Barnes, who beat substitute Ronald Araujo slid the ball across goal and gave the former Manchester United winger a tap-in.
2. Injury blows for both sides
We mentioned Eric Garcia being back in the starting-up. Well, he only lasted 22 minutes.
The Barca right-back evidently hadn't recovered from his muscle injury and had to be replaced by Araujo. Fitness is a problem in Barcelona's defence, with Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde both ruled out until after the international break.
Flick hasn't been able to use a consistent back four this season, one of Barca's strengths last term as they won a domestic treble and reached the Champions League semi-finals. The departure of Inigo Martinez last summer has certainly been felt.
And like Garcia, the returning Tonali didn't complete the full 90. Defending well to stop Barcelona from scoring a from fifth shortly after Lopez's goal, the Italian appeared to hurt his ankle when challenging Joao Cancelo.
But it proved to be a nightmare scenario. Tonali had to come off for Joe Willock and Lewandowski scored from the resulting corner.
Late on, Joan Garcia went down with an issue and fan favourite Wojciech Szczesny entered the fray for his first appearance since November. The Pole enjoyed himself in the latter stages, as Barcelona cantered to the finish.
3. VAR punishes Trippier's tug
As the half wore on, Barcelona began to assert themselves and had the lion's share of chances after Elanga's second equaliser. First, Burn did brilliantly to block a Lewandowski shot before Yamal skied an effort from five yards.
With seconds to go until Francois Letexier blew his whistle for half-time, Barca launched one last attack which resulted in Lopez squaring the ball for Raphinha in front of an empty net. Instead of scoring, the Brazilian went tumbling over and immediately appealed for a penalty.
Replays shows that Trippier had grabbed hold of Raphinha's arm as he was racing towards the ball, giving Letexier no choice but to award a penalty when looking at the incident on the VAR monitor. Despite scoring two spot kicks against Sevilla on Sunday, Raphinha handed the ball to Yamal and the wonderkid tucked home. It brought an end to an action-packed first half.
4. Barcelona run riot
Surely we couldn't have as entertaining of a second half, could we? Not from a Newcastle point of view anyway.
Within 16 minutes of the restart, the game was out of sight. Barcelona cut through their visitors with ease, with Lopez scoring first before a Lewandowski double and Raphinha strike.
Howe's men were simply too stretched and couldn't keep up their attacking threat. After competing well for the first three quarters of the tie, the gulf in class became clear. But Newcastle can certainly hold their heads high and won't be pushovers if they qualify for the Champions League again next season.
Who'll win the Champions League? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
5. Lewandowski makes Champions League history
Still scoring goals, still making history. Undoubtedly past his peak, the fact that Lewandowski wasn't guaranteed to start both legs speaks to how he's wained after turning 37 in August.
But the Poland captain got over his first-half miss to score twice in the second period. His header from Raphinha's corner and a cool finish on the counter put the contest to bed - and put himself in the record books.
Lewandowski has now netted against 41 different teams in the Champions League, usurping Lionel Messi's record. He also became the oldest player to score twice in a Champions League game.
The master marksman is out of contract in June and has interest from three different continents. We'll soon know a decision - from him or Barca - regarding his future. But for now, his focus is on helping the La Liga giants win their first European Cup since 2015.