Newcastle United forward Harvey Barnes was heralded by a group of UEFA experts following their draw with Barcelona. 

Barnes, of course, scored the goal as Newcastle United drew 1-1 with Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash at St James’ Park on Tuesday.

While Lewis Hall was Newcastle’s best player against Barcelona, it’s interesting that UEFA named Barnes as their Player of the Match.

Who was Newcastle United’s best player against Barcelona and why?

In a statement posted on UEFA’s official website, they said: “He displayed clever tactical positioning in both defence and attack, consistently threatening Barcelona’s back line with his runs, which eventually resulted in the opening goal.”

This year’s group contains the likes of Sir Gareth Southgate and Roy Hodgson.

Barnes – who had struck the post only a few minutes before his goal – did well to convert Jacob Murphy’s late cross in the 86^th minute, a goal that looked like it would give Eddie Howe’s side a famous win.

Lamine Yamal, however, would score a late penalty after a foul from Malick Thiaw on Dani Olmo and that gives Barca a huge advantage heading into next week’s second leg.

We need to talk about Sandro Tonali….

What is going on with him?! Can anyone remember when he last had a good game?

Harvey Barnes statistics as he wins Player of the Match award

It was reasonably surprising to see Barnes handed the award.

Though the 28-year-old played well, Hall was almost certainly the standout from a Newcastle perspective.

On their website, UEFA note that Barnes had four attempts on goal, scoring with one of them. They also clock his top speed at 32.5km/h and reveal that he covered 9.8km of ground on the night.

Anthony Gordon has generally been Newcastle’s best in the Champions League this season but he could not start the game due to illness.

Barnes, as the most experienced member of a frontline that also included William Osula and Anthony Elanga, did well to step up and replace him.

Hall surely deserved his flowers from the UEFA panel but it’s certainly not as if Barnes was entirely unworthy of his award.