Barça reached the Champions League quarterfinals in style. After a hard-fought first half, the Catalans steamrolled a Newcastle side that crumbled like ice cubes in a sensational second half (7-2). Here are some immediate observations.

Barça soars in Europe. With a deluge of goals that overwhelmed Newcastle, Hansi Flick's team transformed their doubts into dreams. It had been years since a Champions League rout like this (7-2) had been seen, with a second half that left everyone in disbelief. And it didn't even take the best performances of Lamine Yamal and Pedri to achieve a result that serves as a warning to others. If teams like PSG or Bayern can rack up big wins in Europe, Barça can too.

"It's an incredible story. It might be a bit painful now, but I hope that in a few years it will be a funny memory, and that when I'm older I can tell it to my grandchildren," says Adam Spencer (Exeter, Great Britain; 1985). He's talking about the movie-like story of the Barça fan who last Tuesday confused Newcastle's stadium, St. James' Park (with an apostrophe), in the north of England, near Scotland, with Exeter City's stadium, St. James Park (without an apostrophe), in the southeast: 600 kilometers away, a six-and-a-half-hour drive, as the club confirms. "He couldn't have chosen a more distant stadium, not even if he tried," laments Spencer, who is responsible for the Exeter fan experience. The team is sixteenth in League One, the third tier of English football.

A penalty in stoppage time, awarded for a foul on Dani Olmo, salvaged a point for a very erratic Barça in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie (1-1). Lamine Yamal converted the spot kick with precision, preventing another comeback at the Camp Nou. When the defeat seemed insurmountable and deserved, Newcastle were left reeling when Thiaw brought down the Terrassa native in the final play of a match that, at times, stirred up ghosts of the past and should give Hansi Flick pause for thought ahead of next week's return leg.

Barça now knows its path to the Champions League final, which this season will be held in Budapest on May 30. After narrowly missing out on last season's final in a heartbreaking tie against Inter Milan, the Catalan club will be looking to reach a European final again eleven years later. But to achieve this, they will first have to overcome Newcastle, another tough opponent. "It's a draw where we could have faced two very different teams, but both have their difficulties. Newcastle is a tough side, and it's a difficult ground where we've already struggled," said sporting director Deco from Switzerland.

Barça haven't started the Champions League with an away win since September 14, 2005, with a 2-0 victory at Werder Bremen. Back then, Frank Rijkaard was the coach, and Lamine Yamal hadn't even been born. Two decades later, and thanks to Marcus Rashford, the Blaugrana have put an end to this poor record. The English striker made his debut for Barça in the Champions League and scored both goals in the win against Newcastle. "Things are going well. I'm learning a lot, it's obvious," he explained to the English press the day before the match. He said it like that. Making it clear that it's an "obvious" fact, as if he assumed there was no need to explain further, since everyone sees how Barça plays. "We're not used to playing against players who keep the ball like that. We've played against Chelsea, City, Arsenal... but it wasn't the same as against Barça," Anthony Gordon, the scorer of the home side's goal, explained, in admiration of the Blaugranas.

Good start for Barça in the Champions League, with a win (1-2) on a difficult field like Saint James's Park.

Starting over. It's nice to have new opportunities and embrace them tightly. Marcus Rashford chose the best stage and the best time to be reborn and feel like he's playing in the Champions League again. The English player had gone three years without two goals in a game and almost five without scoring in the Champions League. And in just a few minutes, he scored two beautiful strikes to leave a very combative Newcastle side with their noses in the sand. The Manchester United player showed the way forward in Europe at Barça: knowing how to strike when necessary and knowing how to suffer. The Champions League debut wasn't easy, as expected. And, in fact, Rashford's opening act was Joan Garcia, very confident between the sticks when he played, even in the final minutes when Newcastle managed to score, keeping the St. James's Park pot boiling until the end.

"All professional players should have a bit of amateurism. I'm referring to the spirit a player develops when they play for nothing, without expecting any reward beyond victory. Raphinha is a clear example; he hasn't lost anything of what you achieve when you play for fun," said Marcelo Bielsa five years ago. In a working-class city that no tourist would ever set foot in if it weren't for football, Raphinha gave it his all by pursuing his dream: to succeed in football. Today he returns to a city similar to Leeds and Newcastle. Cities known for their football teams, or if lucky, for a musical group.

He never played for Newcastle United. And as a manager, he never won a single title with them. But at the entrance to the stadium where Barça will make their Champions League debut, you find a statue of him. "He's a legend. Do you know why? He was one of us," says Mark, a fan of the club. Bobby Robson, the man who coached Barça during difficult times, is one of the most respected names among the fans of Barça's first rival in the Champions League. "Robson was the son of miners. He worked as a miner. Almost everyone here has a relative who went down the mines. And he was a Newcastle fan, but played for other clubs. It made us in Newcastle angry to see how he succeeded as a manager always far from home. And when he finally came, he was already too old. There were doubts about him." Bobby Robson realized his dream of working at Newcastle in 1999, when he was offered a low salary to take charge of the team, then bottom of the Premier League. He accepted. And in the first match they already won 8-0 at Sheffield Wednesday. In the five years he managed the magpiesUntil 2004, he qualified the team twice for the Champions League.