In the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie, Lamine Yamal's last minute penalty handed Barça a valuable 1-1 draw at St James' Park in one of their most difficult encounters of the season so far. Despite being held, however, the blaugranes have history on their side after just such a result in the first leg. 

The second leg is to come next Wednesday at a Spotify Camp Nou which will see its capacity lifted to 62,000 for the visit of Newcastle United, another reason to believe that the blaugranes have a great chance of making it to the last eight of the competition. 

Good result in the first leg 

History tells us that Barça have played a total of six ties in which they have drawn 1-1 away from home in the first leg in the Champions. The good news is that the blaugranes have made it through on no less than five occasions, each time at the last 16 stage of the competition. 

Lyon, Stuttgart, Chelsea...

In the season of the treble under Pep Guardiola, 2008/09, Barça drew 1-1 against Olympique Lyonnais in France in the first leg of their last 16 tie. In the return leg Barça overwhelmed the Ligue 1 side, winning 5-2 at Spotify Camp Nou and taking a step towards the title that they would ultimately claim against Manchester United in the final in Rome. 

A season later Barça took a 1-1 draw away at Stuttgart, also in the last 16 of the competition, before a resounding 4-0 win at home in the second leg. In 2018 Barça were held 1-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, against in the last 16, before winning 3-0 at Spotify Camp Nou to make it through to the quarter-finals. 

Two against Napoli 

The two most recent examples have both comes against Italian side Napoli. In 2020, after a 1-1 draw in February in Naples, a second leg played five months later due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw Barça take a 3-1 win at home and a place in the last eight. In 2024 the two teams met again at the same stage of the competition and once again a 1-1 draw in the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in the first leg was followed by a 3-1 win for Barça in the second at Spotify Camp Nou. 

The only reverse 

The only time that the blaugranes have been knocked out after a 1-1 draw away from home in the first leg came in the 2002/03 season when a draw in Turin was followed by an extra time 2-1 win Juventus at Spotify Camp Nou. All in all, history has reasons for the culers to be optimistic ahead of Wednesday's second leg. 

Força Barça