Newcastle United were on the verge of a famous win against Barcelona in the Champions League R16 first leg match on Tuesday (Mar 10) at the St. James Park but teenager Lamine Yamal had different plans. There were no goals in the match till 86th minute when Harvey Barnes scored one for the home team, almost sealing a win. Yamal, the 18 and something superstar in making, however, came to the fore with a successful penalty kick of his own in the 96th minute to deny Newcastle a win. With the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw, Barcelona will have the home advanatge in the second leg and the winner of the match will proceed to the next stage.
How Lamine Yamal saved Barcelona in historic UCL appearance
The Spanish player, aged only 18 years and 240 days, is now the youngest to play 30 UEFA Champions League matches and he celebrated it with a brilliant injury-time rescue act for his team. Have a look at his penalty kick which saved Barcelona from embarrassment:
Before Yamal, the youngest to play 30 UCL matches was Warren Zaire-Emery for Paris Saint-Germain who reached the milestone aged 19 years and 227 days. Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas was 20 years and 207 days when he played his 30th UEFA Champions League match.
What's next for Barcelona and Newcastle
Both the teams will play one fixture each before facing each other in the second leg of Round of 16 Champions League match. Newcastle will go to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday (Mar 14) before taking on Barcelona on Wednesday (Mar 18) at Camp Nou.
As for Barca, the Spanis La Liga giants take on Sevilla on Sunday (Mar 15) at home before facing Newcastle United in hopes to make it to the last 8 of Champions League.
