Barcelona opened up their 2025-26 Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win at St James’ Park against Newcastle United.
The opening 45 minutes were very much a half of two halves. Newcastle, in typical fashion, started aggressively, with the front three pressing the Barcelona defence and winning possession in some promising positions, to the delight of the home fans. The pace of Anthony Elanga, in particular, was a consistently dangerous outlet for Eddie Howe’s side, with their best chance of the half coming when he motored down the right flank and crossed for Harvey Barnes, whose shot was saved.
But Barcelona are too good to be dominated for long and inevitably grew into the game. Marcus Rashford offered a growing threat and Pedri’s probing in the middle allowed the visitors to dominate first-half possession and generate three times as many shots as Newcastle, even if none of them tested Nick Pope.
And it was the visitors who opened the scoring just before the hour, Rashford heading home from a Jules Kounde cross to become the first English player to score for Barcelona in a European competition since Gary Lineker. Ten minutes later, Rashford made it 2-0 with a rocket of a shot from just outside the penalty area. Anthony Gordon halved the deficit in the 90th minute, but despite some pressure in injury time, Newcastle could not complete a comeback.
Chris Waugh and Anantaajith Raghuraman analyse the game.
Does Marcus Rashford’s Barcelona loan spell have lift-off?
It’s fair to say Rashford had a mixed experience in the first half. Ten minutes in, he collected a throw from Joan Garcia and sold Kieran Tripper a dummy before collecting the ball on the other side, bearing down on goal before… shooting well wide of Pope’s near-post.
Rashford competed well with Trippier for much of the half but could not get away from him. He looked unsure of his responsibilities in possession at times. The Barcelona forward also gave the ball away to Livramento with a loose pass across the pitch in the 26th minute, but covered ground well to slide in and stop a Newcastle counter.
But the moment he and Barcelona were waiting for arrived in the 58th minute, when smart movement to gain separation from Schar helped him finish Jules Kounde’s cross with a header into the bottom corner for his first goal in Barcelona colours.
If that was a moment that showed his understanding of the game, Rashford’s second was vindication for one of the best strikers of a football in Europe. Picking up a weak pass from Dan Burn at the edge of the Newcastle box, Rashford took two touches towards the right side of the box before lashing a shot that dipped just enough to leave Pope helpless and cannon in off the bottom of the crossbar.
That was followed by a sweeping first-time switch to Raphinha, who could immediately bear down on goal before shooting wide, and an excellent touch to control a Garcia long pass and then turn Trippier before charging into the box. Those were all signs of how good Rashford can be at full flight, especially with his confidence enhanced by two goals.
His first four games in a Barcelona shirt have been middling, but his loan spell now has lift-off.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Was it a mistake not to take Fabian Schar off sooner?
If Newcastle harbour any regrets from the night, how Fabian Schar’s apparent concussion was handled will be one of them.
In the 50th minute, Rashford lashed a vicious shot towards goal and Schar, whether deliberately or inadvertently, put his head in the way to block it. The power of the effort was such that it knocked Schar backwards on his feet.
Newcastle’s medical team came onto the pitch and some immediate concussion tests appeared to take place, but Schar seemingly did not show immediate symptoms. At least it was not deemed sufficiently serious to immediately remove the centre-back.
However, within 12 minutes, Barcelona were ahead after Rashford leapt in front of Schar to head home, and the centre-back had to be replaced, having fallen to the ground in clear discomfort.
Whether Schar would have prevented Rashford from opening the scoring is a moot point to an extent, but the natural conclusion many will draw is that his decision-making and reaction time were impaired by the blow to his head.
When he eventually departed after the hour mark, visibly in discomfort and appearing a bit dazed as he was replaced by Malick Thiaw, it was obvious that he was not fit enough to continue.
The question many will ask is, should he have remained on the pitch for as long as he did?
Chris Waugh
Did Eddie Howe’s front three decision pay off?
The big call from Eddie Howe selection-wise was Nick Woltemade — fresh from his goalscoring debut at St James’ Park — dropped to the bench and Anthony Gordon, who is still suspended domestically, leading the line.
Woltemade asked to come off against Wolverhampton Wanderers with cramp and was always unlikely to start three games in seven days. Gordon was fresh and ready to run. And run.
From the first second, Newcastle swarmed forward in numbers, looking to suffocate Barcelona early and force high turnovers. For a few minutes at least, the Spanish champions appeared frazzled.
Once the visitors settled into the match, however, Newcastle then reverted to trying to catch them in transition, attempting to exploit Barcelona’s high line. In training, the coaches had dedicated significant time to trying to release Anthony Elanga, who came back in for Jacob Murphy, into the spaces behind. Bruno Guimaraes regularly fed the Sweden international, who won every foot race against Gerard Martin.
The theory behind this ploy was sound, even if it was risky.
Newcastle’s bold approach left Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Fabian Schar, all in their 30s, going man for man at times with Rashford, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. For the most part, they coped well and restricted Barcelona to just a few clear-cut chances.
At the other end, Newcastle carved out openings, but they lacked someone to finish their opportunities. Elanga, Harvey Barnes and Gordon started the opening two Premier League matches, and, devoid of a centre-forward, Newcastle were largely toothless from open play.
For the first half against Barcelona, it felt as if history was repeating itself to a degree.
Once Newcastle fell behind, Howe changed things up, with Woltemade introduced as part of a quadruple substitution.
Soon afterwards, when Rashford rifled in a second, the cavalry arriving off the bench felt largely meaningless. Howe’s plan worked to a point, but Barcelona showed that, at this level, when you get opportunities, you simply have to take them.
Once Gordon was shifted out to his more natural left-sided position and then to playing just off Woltemade, he appeared more comfortable. That was the position from which he scored in added time, converting a delicious Jacob Murphy cross from the right.
Gordon can play through the middle, yet he is just not as effective as he is out wide.
Chris Waugh
What does defeat mean for Newcastle?
On Wednesday, Howe admitted that he liked the new Champions League format. He refused to say whether he felt Newcastle’s chances of progressing had improved due to the now-expanded competition, but they undoubtedly have.
Unlike two years ago, a home defeat against the top seed is not necessarily fatal. Newcastle do not have to travel to Camp Nou and their remaining three St James’ Park fixtures are, theoretically at least, ‘more winnable’ assignments against Benfica, Athletic Bilbao and PSV.
Rather than play just six group games, Newcastle have eight league-phase fixtures to navigate, so they have seven further opportunities to accumulate enough points to finish in the top 24 of the 36 teams.
Even so, Newcastle must learn lessons from this game, and quickly. They are not in the Champions League as tourists this time. They insist they are here to compete.
Ensuring that you take your chances, especially during the periods when you are on top, is essential.
A repeat triumph reminiscent of the famous 4-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain two years ago, or the historic Faustino Asprilla-inspired 3-2 win over Barcelona in 1997, would have been special. But offer Howe one glorious night against Barcelona or progression to the next round, and the head coach would likely go for the latter.
It is now on to Belgium and a trip to Union Saint-Gilloise in less than a fortnight. A positive result would be very welcome.
Chris Waugh
Does this performance show Barcelona are overall contenders?
While they beat Valencia 6-0 over the weekend, this was the early statement performance Barcelona were looking for. Newcastle at St James’ Park promised to be tricky, especially without Lamine Yamal.
The three points came via Rashford’s double strike, but Flick will take plenty of other positives, too. Apart from a couple of hiccups, Barcelona weathered the early Newcastle storm well and eventually found their trademark lengthy spells of possession. A nervy ending ensued after Gordon’s 90th-minute goal, triggered by Newcastle pinning the back line and making delayed runs from deep, a strategy teams have used to good effect since the latter months of 2024-25. Barcelona held on, as they have often done in close games under Flick, but they will continue to give their opposition chances to score.
Among the positives, Pedri was influential again in the middle of the park, particularly in the closing moments, and Frenkie de Jong grew into the contest after a sluggish start. Ronald Araujo and Pau Cubarsi looked much more assured at the back than they have in past matches together, and Fermin Lopez buzzed around enough to prise open gaps in the Newcastle block. In his first start of the season, Lewandowski’s hold-up play was invaluable, while Joan Garcia put in an assured performance on his Champions League debut with his hands and feet.
With fellow contenders Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Liverpool and Real Madrid all winning, it felt imperative for Barcelona to start on the right note and avoid the hiccup they faced at Monaco last season, losing 2-1. PSG visit Montjuic next before the schedule eases up a little with matches against Olympiacos and Club Brugge.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
What did Eddie Howe say?
Eddie Howe was realistic about how his side did against Barcelona. Asked by TNT Sports about whether he could take pride from the performance the Newcastle boss said “When the dust settles, I think we’ll look back and see it was a strong effort, but of course, these nights are only magical if you win and we haven’t so we failed in that objective.
“But I think we will learn and grow our game from nights like this. We kept going until the end and that’s what we pride ourselves on. You’re never out of the game — one goal was always going to change the mood back into our favour.
“I thought they (Barcelona) managed the extra-time really well because we were desperate for the ball but couldn’t get it off them, and you have to give them credit for how they played.”
What did Flick and Rashford say?
The Barcelona boss was understandably delighted with Marcus Rashford’s performance. “I said yesterday he is a fantastic player. His finishing is unbelieavable. At half time I told him go and score two goals (laughs). Just kidding of course.
“For a striker it’s always good to score. He was always well in the box. An important player.
“I think for me this was his first step. He needs to do the next now. This is great to do it in Newcastle, England, first goals in a Barça shirt… gives him confidence to keep going and for me that’s the most important thing right now.”
Rashford, speaking to TNT Sports, was equally ebullient. ““It is refreshing to play with these guys. The team is so young, and they play with such confidence and such an understanding of the game.
“You guys know St James’ Park is not an easy place to come and to play the way that we play.
“I have won here a few times, not playing the way that you necessarily want to play. Today, we gave a good account of ourselves. We defended well and walked away with the win.”
Flick also praised his goalkeeper, Joan Garcia. “He’s been like the whole team, fantastic. It’s great to have him in goal. He is really fast with movements. I am really happy with him. He’s saved from some situations which were difficult, and I remember that a lot now.”
What next for Newcastle?
Sunday, September 21: Bournemouth (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 10am ET
What next for Barcelona?
Sunday, September 21: Getafe (Home), La Liga, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
(Top photo: Getty Images)