Teams tied 1-1 in the first leg last week in England -- Lamine Yamal's added-time penalty in the first leg denied Newcastle a historic victory. The Blaugrana have Europe’s best record at home this season and that's really all this is. Barcelona has lost only two of its 37 home games against English visitors (W22 D13) and is unbeaten in 14 (W9 D5). Newcastle has lost four of its past five away against Spanish opposition. Starting midfielder Sandro Tonali is in doubt with an illness and domestic leading scorer Bruno Guimaraes remains sidelined by injury.
I will be the first person to admit that Newcastle played an incredible first leg at St. James Park. They were the better team for 90+5 minutes, and still, managed only a draw. A controversial decision gave Barcelona a penalty at the last play of the game, as Barca left equal on goals. Now, Newcastle have the daunting and brutal task of traveling to Spain to take on Barcelona on their turf. Newcastle needed a lead after leg one, because I think Barcelona now win by multiple goals with home field advantage.
