Barcelona manager Hansi Flick stated that he was content with his side’s 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night, after Lamine Yamal equalised with the last kick of the game. The Blaugrana saw Newcastle United impose themselves on the game for much of it, but will go back to Camp Nou with parity.
Despite the result, there was a clear acceptance that Newcastle had been the better side on the night, with Barcelona looking exhausted in the final stages. Flick promised a ‘different Barcelona’ in the second leg.
“We’ve had a lot of previous matches, and injured players. Bernal and Pedri are coming off a period of inactivity. We need to improve, that’s clear, but the positive thing for us is the result. After being 1-0 down, it was fantastic to be able to come back and get a draw.
“We’ll see a different Barça in the return leg,” he told Movistar+, via MD.
‘We lost the ball too many times’ – Flick
His main frustration with Barcelona’s performance was in possession, feeling they handed the initiative to the Magpies. However he was content with their defending.
“We didn’t play well with the ball; we lost possession too often, and that’s what Newcastle wants. We knew they’re very quick when they pass the ball. It wasn’t easy, but I’m very happy with my team, especially the defence; we defended very well on the pitch. The two centre-backs did a fantastic job.”
“We may have been tired, but we played a very intense match with this atmosphere and this team. I’m very happy and appreciate what I saw in defence, and we need to play much better with the ball. If you had said to me that the result would be 1-1 before, I’d have been happy.”
Ronald Araujo at right-back
Before the game it was expected that Eric Garcia would be starting at right-back, but he was dropped to the bench due to muscle discomfort. Instead of shifting Joao Cancelo to right-back and Gerard Martin to left-back with Ronald Araujo in central defence, their most natural positions, Araujo came in for Garcia in a straight swap.
“He did his job. We didn’t want to change many positions; it was clear we wanted to play with Cubarsi and Gerard as centre-backs, and I asked Ronald if he could play at full-back, and he had a good game. In the end, he was tired after running so much and didn’t recover well at the right time, but we had players in the right position to compensate.”
Xavi Espart came on for his debut for Araujo in the closing stages after he suffered cramp.
“There are no excuses, we had enough players here and you could even see, when Xavi came on, that he was very good. And that’s what I want to see, and I’m happy about it.”
🚨 Xavi Espart: “It’s been a dream to be able to debut with Barça’s first team. I’ll keep working to get more opportunities.” 🎙️
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 10, 2026
‘We have to manage Pedri’s minutes’ – Hansi Flick
There were several questions about the physical status of Barcelona after the game, with an exhausted Pedri, Marc Bernal and Araujo all coming off, seemingly struggling.
“Right now we need to rest; the players’ job is to rest and prepare well for Sunday’s match. We’ll have several days to prepare, there won’t be any rest, but that’s normal. When you play at this level in the Champions League and La Liga, it’s normal to have matches every two or three days, and we have to adapt and do things right during these days.”
Pedri, Barcelona’s best player on the night, was withdrawn with 20 minutes to go.
“We have to manage his playing time, and with Pedri, we have to be careful. He’s had two injuries this season, he’s just come back from the last one, and of course everyone wants to play him because he’s the player who controls the ball.”
Barcelona host Sevilla on Sunday night, before welcoming Newcastle to Camp Nou the following Wednesday in a winner-takes-all second leg.
