Eddie Howe, the manager of Newcastle United, expressed reservations about the penalty awarded to Barcelona in the final moments of their Champions League clash, which resulted in the Catalan team's equalizing goal.

The match saw Newcastle take the lead with a goal in the 86th minute, before Barcelona managed to equalize through Lamine Yamal from a penalty in stoppage time, ending the encounter in a draw ahead of the anticipated second leg.

Howe stated in his comments: "I think we delivered an exceptional performance, it was truly a fantastic display, and we maintained a high level of enthusiasm throughout the match. It's true that what happened in the final moments might overshadow that, but it remains one of our best performances."

Regarding the penalty from which Lamine Yamal scored the equalizer, the Newcastle manager clarified: "I believe it was not accurate, despite the contact between the players, it's difficult to accept the match ending this way."

Howe added: "We were very organized throughout the encounter, and it doesn't make sense to concede a goal in this manner. We will review the footage later, but I don't want this moment to overshadow the 93 minutes that preceded it, as we delivered a high level of quality during that time."

The English coach continued: "I think we were capable of scoring another goal before that moment, and the match showed that we have the ability to do so. But we realize we will need to put in more effort before going to their stadium, we are capable of achieving that, but we must be at our best."

Howe emphasized the importance of supporting his players after the match, saying: "It's my duty to lift the players' spirits. Unfortunately, we've had to do that several times this season, but our character should never be questioned. We will be ready for the next match, and we believe in ourselves and our abilities, as we demonstrated today."

He concluded his remarks about the anticipated second leg at Camp Nou by saying: "We have to believe in our ability, it's clear that the match there will be completely different, and its circumstances will be different, but we showed tonight that we can cause them problems, and we have to go there and try to repeat that."