Newcastle United could have avoided the 'pummelling' they received at the hands of Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night, had they been awarded a penalty for Joao Cancelo's challenge on Anthony Elanga. That is the view of former Blackburn Rovers and Celtic forward Chris Sutton, who believes it could have changed the whole complexion of the tie.
Sutton was commentating on the game for BBC Radio 5Live and was captivated by an 'enthralling' first half at the Camp Nou. Elanga twice brought Newcastle level after falling behind to goals from Raphinha and Marc Bernal and he was exploiting Barcelona's high defensive line at will. With Newcastle in the ascendancy, Elanga got in behind Cancelo and was pulled back in the penalty area, but referee Francois Letexier decided it wasn't worthy of a penalty kick.
"On the face of it you would look at the scoreline over two legs and you would think Newcastle had been pummelled by Barcelona over the two games," Sutton told BBC Radio 5Live. "That wasn't the case. They were pummelled by Barcelona for one half of football. Newcastle gave such a good account of themselves." He added that at 2-2, Elanga's penalty claim was a "big moment" and that on another day, if Newcastle had scored to go 3-2 up, the atmosphere would have been completely different.
The game flipped on the stroke of half-time when Kieran Trippier was penalised for pulling back Raphinha. Lamine Yamal converted the penalty to give the hosts a 3-2 lead, sucking any momentum Newcastle had built. In 16 second half minutes, a brace from Robert Lewandowski and a Fermin Lopez goal took the game away before Raphinha added his second to seal a 7-2 win.
Sutton felt it was a 'sorry ending' to what had been a competitive tie and a solid run for United in this season's Champions League. "Yamal tucked the penalty away and then second half I always thought Newcastle would run out of steam but Barcelona wiped the floor with them in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the second half," he added. "Then it was just a case of white flag, another centre-half for Newcastle and trying to keep the score down. That was a sad ending and a sorry ending from a side who gave so much in the first half. But when you are at this level, and this is the top level in Europe, they can do that to you, Barcelona."
