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Newcastle talents come close to Barcelona shock in brilliant UEFA Youth League opener

by Jaspar Shepherdson ·
Newcastle talents come close to Barcelona shock in brilliant UEFA Youth League opener

With our senior squad having qualified for the Champions League last season, it provided more than just an opportunity for them to showcase their quality to the rest of the continent.

But by virtue of their qualification, our U-19s side automatically qualified for the UEFA Youth League, where we’ll play the youth sides of the same teams our senior squad is set to play in this season’s competition.

So, hours before Thursday night’s 2-1 defeat to Barcelona's senior side, our young Magpies were handed one of the toughest tests in football: facing the next generation of La Masia graduates and rising Spanish stars that make up the Barcelona U-19s.

And after the promising signs we showed two seasons ago, could the future stars of Newcastle United deliver?

Dramatic scenes as Newcastle narrowly miss out

Newcastle United's Young Mags fell to a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona’s U-19s on Thursday afternoon, fighting back in a valiant effort against the defending champions.

Barca's future stars, who are looking for a record-extending fourth title this season, were always going to be a tough test against our underdog side.

And things got off to a bad start at Whitley Park, as the visitors took the lead through Xavi Espart Font in the 23rd minute.

Things got worse before the break, however, as a brace for Oscar Gistau gave the Blaugrana a 3-0 lead, and our lads a mammoth task heading into the second half.

Leo Shahar, who has earned rave reviews so far and will surely be in our first team within the next couple of seasons, cut the deficit by scoring a superb low free-kick just after the hour mark.


Prolific Toon striker Kacey Wooster, who himself put in a big shift in our recent win against Liverpool U-19s, then continued his rich run of form to make it 3-2 with less than 10 minutes of normal time to go.

But there was to be no comeback, as Sean Neave’s last gasp header was narrowly off target right at the end, meaning it finished 3-2 to the visitors despite such a valiant performance.

Newcastle Under-19s: George Mair, Scott Bailey, Dylan Charlton, Kyle Fitzgerald (Mohamed Waddani 69), Anthony Munda (Seung-soo Park 69), Joe Brayson (Sam Alabi 52), Leo Shahar (c), Sean Neave, Logan Watts (Aaron Epia 59), Henry Johnson, Rory Finneran (Kacey Wooster 69).

Unused subs: Roman Dowell, Baran Yildiz, Oliver Goodbrand, Guy Bloomer.

Speaking after the game, Coach Adam Lawrence praised the tenacity of the players: “Anyone watching couldn’t fault them for their spirit in going right to the end. We’ve lost the game but a lot of wins that will help us further down the line in the tournament.”

Up next for young Magpies: Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, who were pummelled 6-2 away to PSV Eindhoven in their opening game of the campaign.

U19s v Barcelona match report image
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