LONDON – Barcelona tore apart Newcastle in a thrilling 7-2 win Wednesday to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals and extend Spanish clubs’ dominance over England this month.
Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski each scored twice and Fermín López finished a slick, scything move as Barcelona surged in the second half after the teams went toe-to-toe before the break.
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Tied at 1-1 after the first leg in Newcastle, Barcelona went ahead twice in the first 20 minutes and twice Newcastle soon leveled with rare goals from Anthony Elanga. The Sweden winger had not scored in 35 previous games this season in the Premier League or Champions League yet struck twice in a 13-minute spell at Camp Nou.
Momentum swung when Lamine Yamal scored a penalty with the last kick of the half to give Barcelona a lead at 3-2 it would not give up again. Last week, the 18-year-old Yamal's penalty deep in stoppage time denied Newcastle a first-leg win.
La Liga again topped the Premier League one day after Real Madrid won 2-1 at Manchester City to complete a 5-1 aggregate score. In Madrid, captain Fede Valverde's first-half hat trick had swatted Man City aside.
Later Wednesday, Atletico Madrid will start 5-2 up on Tottenham in the second leg of their round-of-16 clash.
Barcelona and Atletico will meet in the quarterfinals if the Madrid club protects its first-leg lead in north London.
Real Madrid is set to next meet Bayern Munich which kicks off later Wednesday with a 6-1 lead hosting Atalanta.
English hopes Wednesday may rest with Liverpool, which hosts Galatasaray at Anfield needing to overturn a 1-0 loss from the first match in Istanbul. There is reportedly growing pressure on Liverpool manager Arne Slot heading into the game.
England had a record six teams in the round of 16 but only Arsenal has so far advanced, with Chelsea joining Man City in getting eliminated on Tuesday.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer