Three takeaways from Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona | OneFootball

Barcelona took their time to settle into the game against Newcastle United last night in the UEFA Champions League. Once they did, however, there was no looking back.

While the hosts did indeed create many openings, Barcelona grew into the game and completely dominated Eddie Howe’s side in the second half to take all three points.

Marcus Rashford, returning to England, was the player in the limelight as he netted a brace to lead the side to the win – a double where both goals were of top quality.

The result at St. James’ Park means that Barcelona kicked off their UCL journey for the new season in the best possible manner, and it will be a massive confidence booster for the squad.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona.

Rashford has truly arrived

The star of the night at St. James’ Park was the player who returned to his home country as part of the away trip in the UEFA Champions League – Marcus Rashford.

The Englishman was superb on the night, showing his quality time and time again and looking sharper than he has been in recent weeks. His pace on the left wing gave Kieran Trippier serious trouble, and the defender was forced to sit deep and defend most time.

Just when it seemed like Rashford was having a great night in all aspects but the finishing, he came up with a banger of a header to give Barcelona the lead just before the hour mark, getting on the end of Jules Kounde’s cross.

Minutes later, he outdid himself once more, striking the ball as clean as a whistle from outside the box from a very complicated angle and still beating the goalkeeper with ease to complete a special brace and net his second goal as a Barcelona player.

Right from his link-up play to wide threat and dribbling, Rashford gave Flick only positives to work with, and it is clear that he is growing in confidence and concurrently, in his form.

If Flick retains the same faith in the youngster as the games go by, he could well enjoy a special season for the Blaugrana. He has truly arrived, and the announcement could not have been any better.

Midfield masterclass

Newcastle had no answer for Pedri’s masterclass. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

While Barcelona’s defensive performance last night was phenomenal and they created great chances in attack as the game progressed, it was the midfield that won them the game and shifted the momentum from Newcastle United to the Catalans.

Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, as the team’s double pivot, were simply sensational on the night and made a very strong case to be one of the best midfield pairings in world football, if not the best.

Newcastle’s idea on the night was to press high and make Barcelona uncomfortable in possession, thus winning back the ball and creating major counter-attacking threats.

Pedri and De Jong, however, refused to succumb under pressure and kept toying with the opponents’ press, frustrating them and tiring them out to the extent where they simply could not keep up any longer.

Pedri was initially man-marked by Joelinton, but soon had him booked and frustrated before the opponents put Bruno Guimaraes on him. Even the latter, however, was outclassed by the Spaniard, who was silky smooth with the ball and hardly ever put a step wrong.

De Jong, meanwhile, was the master of neutralising Newcastle’s press as he ran all over the opponents’ players and wriggled out of high-pressure situations with ease, completing 99% of his passes and making easy work of one of football’s most coordinated pressing teams.

The technical quality that Pedri and De Jong showed last night was second to none, and Barcelona are blessed to have the duo working their magic in tandem.

A statement win to start with

Barcelona taking on Newcastle United in the first UCL game of the season was always going to be very difficult to overcome, especially given that the game was scheduled away from home. It was, however, only poetic in many ways.

The style of opposition they faced last night was very similar to the game that sealed their elimination from the competition last season, and the manner in which they handled the proceedings from start to finish showed that they have come a long way in terms of maturity.

For starters, Barcelona remained defensively solid despite Newcastle seemingly knowing how to break them down well, and Joan Garcia stood out on the big European night to show he can be a real asset.

From that aspect of the game to how they slowly tired and broke down the opponents and even handled extra-time with composure despite conceding a late goal shows that lessons have indeed been learnt from last season.

The three points vs Newcastle are massive from Barcelona’s point of view, not only in terms of the confidence it hands them but their league phase campaign as a whole. After all, it means one of the more difficult games is out of the way with a positive result.