Raphinha explains why Lamine Yamal took Barcelona’s penalty against Newcastle

Barcelona winger Raphinha has revealed the reason behind his decision to let 16-year-old Lamine Yamal take the potentially pivotal penalty against Newcastle United in Wednesday’s Champions League encounter.

With the tie delicately poised at 2-2 and seconds remaining before the half-time whistle, Raphinha earned the spot-kick after a driving run into the box. The Brazilian, who has regularly assumed penalty duties for the Catalan club, collected the ball and appeared ready to shoot before pausing and instead placing it in the hands of Yamal. The teenager calmly dispatched the kick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to give Barcelona a 3-2 lead at the interval.

Speaking after the match, Raphinha underlined the importance of intuition in such moments and praised Yamal’s assertiveness. “These days, goalkeepers are always well prepared. It doesn’t matter who takes them. But during the game, you get a sense of it. It’s about the confidence you have that night,” he explained. “And Lamine told me he was really keen to take it. When you see his confidence, you trust him, and it worked out well! He took it very well.”

The goal was Yamal’s second from the spot in as many games against Newcastle. In the first leg at St James’ Park, the winger converted a stoppage-time penalty to secure a 2-2 draw, handing Barcelona a valuable pair of away goals ahead of the return leg at Camp Nou.

Raphinha’s willingness to defer spot-kick responsibility highlights the squad’s faith in the academy graduate, whose composure under pressure continues to belie his tender age. The successful conversion ultimately contributed to Barcelona edging through the tie, although the final aggregate score was not specified in post-match comments.