Category: Sports

Yet it was telling that those in the away end applauded their side off at full-time and repeatedly vowed to “support you ever more”.

The travelling support had certainly not forgotten that Newcastle had reached the last 16 of the competition for only the second time in the club’s history.

Or that the visitors lost just three of their dozen Champions League fixtures this season.

Or that they put in valiant displays in 1-1 draws against Barcelona and holders Paris St-Germain.

“This is where we want to be,” said Howe. “As much as today is a harsh scoreline on us and a painful experience, to see the players play in the way they did in the first half and execute 90% of what we wanted, it was a great feeling and a great sight.

“I don’t think that all should be forgotten with the scoreline, as difficult as that is for everyone to see.”

However, this sobering trip to the Nou Camp felt another timely reminder of the gap Newcastle have to bridge.

It is challenging enough for them to regularly qualify for the Champions League year in, year out.

It will be harder still to compete for such heavyweight honours as CEO David Hopkinson has set out to do as soon as 2030.

Howe spoke afterwards “about learning from today and evolving and changing if we need to”.

Those words did not just feel like a reference to the games to come.

You anticipate this side will look a little different when Newcastle next play in Europe, and that is before taking departures into account.

It was rather telling that Howe was fielding questions about the future of Sandro Tonali on the eve of one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history following yet another batch of comments from the midfielder’s agent, Giuseppe Riso, at the weekend.

Qualifying for the Champions League did not exactly help the club’s cause when it came to keeping hold of Alexander Isak.

But failing to finish in the top five will leave Newcastle particularly vulnerable in a window they have to get right following the turbulence of last summer.

Barcelona want a second Marcus Rashford loan, Manchester United eye Wilfred Ndidi, Dortmund try to re-sign Jadon Sancho.

Barcelona will look to keep Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, 28, on loan for another season to avoid paying a £26m transfer fee. (Daily Mail), external

United could look to pick up Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, 29, from Besiktas, with Turkey goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, 27, moving in the other direction. (SporX – in Turkish), external

Borussia Dortmund believe they can persuade United’s Jadon Sancho, 25, to sign for a third spell at the Bundesliga club. (Times – subscription required), external

Manchester United have a clear interest in Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali but Newcastle United would demand a fee of more than £100m if they decide to sell the 25-year-old. (The i), external

Juventus have been told they can sign Joshua Zirkzee from Manchester United for as little as 25m euros (£21.6m) but are also open to considering a loan with an option to buy the 24-year-old Netherlands forward. (Tuttosport – in Italian), external

Senegal midfielder Lamine Camara is a target for Newcastle and the 22-year-old could leave Monaco this summer. (Football Insider), external

The Magpies are also interested in bringing in 21-year-old French goalkeeper Robin Risser from Lens. (Sky Sports Switzerland – in French), external

West Ham are planning talks with Chelsea to turn the loan signing of France defender Axel Disasi, 28, into a permanent move. (Football Insider), external

Chelsea and Tottenham are chasing Hoffenheim’s 23-year-old Kosovo striker Fisnik Asllani. (Bild – in German), external

Tottenham head coach Igor Tudor praises his side’s 3-2 win against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, as he outlined the club’s severe injury crisis meaning he had a lack of options from the bench during the second leg of their last 16 tie at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Read more: Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Atletico Madrid (Atletico Madrid won 7-5 on aggregate)

Champions League Match of the Day pundit Stephen Warnock looks at how Liverpool’s change of shape contributed to their 4-0 victory over Galatasaray in the last 16 of the Champions League, particularly highlighting the performances of Mohamed Salah and Jeremie Frimpong.

MATCH REPORT: Liverpool 4-0 Galatasaray

Available to UK users only.

Tottenham Hotspur‘s traumatic season can be summed up to perfection by the fact that even when they actually win, it still ends in defeat.

It is also symbolic that a coveted prize of a place in the Champions League after last season’s Europa League success has ended up as a distraction from the grim business of avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

Spurs built on their deserved draw at Liverpool on Sunday to deliver another excellent display in beating Atletico Madrid in their last-16 second-leg tie, but it was not enough to turn around the calamitous 5-2 loss in the Spanish capital.

Amid the disappointment there was that encouragement – and the knowledge Spurs can now put the Champions League aside and concentrate on what truly matters this season.

And that is staying in the top flight so Spurs – and whoever the full-time successor to sacked Thomas Frank will be – can start afresh in the summer as a top-flight club.

This will not be Igor Tudor, but the Croat deserves credit because, from the wreckage of four losses in his first four games, he has shown he can drag improvement from players who looked lost a week ago.

Not that Tudor appeared to take any great public pleasure from the victory – albeit one that saw Spurs knocked out of the Champions League – as he marched brusquely down the tunnel at the final whistle.

“The sensations are mixed,” he said. “You don’t like to not get through, but it was a very good performance. It was a beautiful sensation on the pitch with the fans who were really there together with the squad and the team from the first moment.

“Congratulations to the players. It is positive, commitment, lot of running, lots of good things.

“The energy was really nice from the first moment and the fans recognised the team did everything from the first minute to the last and they were with us – beautiful, thanks.”

In the build-up to last weekend’s game against DC United, Inter Miami manager Javier Mascherano described Messi as “one of a kind”.

The former Liverpool and West Ham midfielder, 41, shared the pitch with his compatriot during his playing days at Barcelona and Argentina, before the pair were reunited in November 2024 when he was appointed manager of the MLS club.

In 2012, Messi set the record for the most goals in a calendar year (91), with 79 for Barcelona and 12 with Argentina.

He is also the fastest player to score 100 Champions League goals, doing so in just 123 outings.

“[I am] a privileged spectator, nothing more, nothing less,” said Mascherano. “I haven’t contributed much to him scoring goals, neither with assists, nor now as a coach.

“I’ve been lucky enough to see most, or many, of the goals he’s scored, much closer than you all, and that’s a privilege.

“The number we’re talking about [900] is insane, and that’s why Leo is one of a kind.”

Despite Liverpool’s dominance, the talk at half-time was of Mohamed Salah’s missed penalty. For a man who rarely misses, it was an unusually weak attempt and one that would certainly have got the headlines had Liverpool not progressed.

By now, Salah’s hunger for success is clear and it spoke volumes that instantly after his miss, he forced a save from Ugurcan Cakir.

And the Egyptian was involved in all three of Liverpool’s second-half goals to cap off a terrific all-round display.

First, Salah teed up Hugo Ekitike and it was Ryan Gravenberch who finished after Salah’s strike was saved, for Liverpool’s third.

The goal to make it 4-0 was a work of art as the 33-year-old used his left foot to curl a sublime effort into the top corner from outside the box.

“It says a lot about his mentality,” said Slot. “That was a difficult moment [when he missed the penalty] but then to come out in the second half with a great assist for Hugo and then score a trademark goal coming inside and finding the top corner.

“That tells you a lot about his mental strength, so credit to him and the whole team because adversity is something we can talk about when it comes to this season.”

Salah could have easily had more on a night where he became the first African to score 50 Champions League goals and recorded his 200th and 201st goal involvements for Liverpool at Anfield in all competitions (140 goals, 61 assists) in just 211 appearances.

There was some concern when Salah asked to be substituted in the 74th minute, with Slot saying afterwards that he had felt something.

But this was another timely reminder of his sheer class. Salah’s numbers alone are stupendous and whether or not he is still a Liverpool player come next season, there is little doubt that Liverpool have a stronger chance of knocking out PSG with him fit and firing.

Champions League Match of the Day pundits Stephen Warnock and Nedum Onuoha look at how Barcelona were able to repeatedly expose Newcastle United’s centre-backs Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw during their 7-2 victory in the second leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League.

MATCH REPORT: Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle

Available to UK users only.

ENGLAND

Even though four teams have been knocked out this week, it is all but certain that the Premier League will get an extra place.

England (23.847) already have a coefficient score pretty much the same as last season’s second-placed country (Spain, 23.892).

Nothing should be completely taken for granted, as England seemed destined to get an EPS slot in 2023-24 only to suffer a terrible set of results in the quarter-finals.

But it is going to take another very bad night on Thursday for there to be any real jeopardy.

It also helps that Bayern Munich will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, meaning one of England’s closest rivals will lose a team. And Barcelona must play Atletico Madrid, too.

As a picture of how far England are ahead, German and Spanish sides are effectively 18 victories behind. And Serie A can no longer catch the Premier League.

SPAIN

The Spanish league is in second place and now has more teams left in Europe (six) than any other league.

It will be a close battle as each win is worth less to the coefficient than for Germany.

The Champions League meeting between Bayern and Real Madrid could prove crucial in the race.

Spain will also be hit by their teams meeting each other.

Atletico and Barcelona will meet in the Champions League quarter-finals.

In the Europa League, Celta Vigo and Real Betis are on a collision course in the semi-finals.

GERMANY

The Bundesliga has only Bayern left active in the Champions League, and it will need a strong turnaround of results on Thursday.

Of the three German teams in action in the Europa League and Conference League, not one goes into their second leg with a lead. They all need positive results to be able to challenge Spain.

PORTUGAL

It seemed like Portugal’s chances of making the top two were effectively over when Santa Clara were knocked out of the Conference League in the qualifying rounds.

But three of their remaining four teams are still active.

However, to be in contention for second all are going to have to go very deep.

ITALY

Serie A has lost four of its seven teams and now only has a slim chance of making second place.

Bologna and Roma face each other in the Europa League last 16, so another team will go out.

At least Fiorentina won in the Conference League.

FRANCE

It has been a disappointing season for Ligue 1 teams, starting with Nice’s failure to make it through Champions League qualifying.

It did not get much better from there for Nice, as they were then eliminated from the Europa League.

France do have four teams still active but seem unlikely to bridge the gap.

POLAND

It will come as a surprise to many to find Poland so high up in the table, and they were in the top two for a while. But Poland no longer have a realistic chance.

All four of the country’s teams have been playing in the Conference League, while more than a third of their coefficient points were picked up in the qualifying rounds.

It would need both of their teams to win every remaining game.

No other country has a mathematical chance of the top two.