Yet it was telling that those in the away end applauded their side off at full-time and repeatedly vowed to “support you ever more”.
The travelling support had certainly not forgotten that Newcastle had reached the last 16 of the competition for only the second time in the club’s history.
Or that the visitors lost just three of their dozen Champions League fixtures this season.
Or that they put in valiant displays in 1-1 draws against Barcelona and holders Paris St-Germain.
“This is where we want to be,” said Howe. “As much as today is a harsh scoreline on us and a painful experience, to see the players play in the way they did in the first half and execute 90% of what we wanted, it was a great feeling and a great sight.
“I don’t think that all should be forgotten with the scoreline, as difficult as that is for everyone to see.”
However, this sobering trip to the Nou Camp felt another timely reminder of the gap Newcastle have to bridge.
It is challenging enough for them to regularly qualify for the Champions League year in, year out.
It will be harder still to compete for such heavyweight honours as CEO David Hopkinson has set out to do as soon as 2030.
Howe spoke afterwards “about learning from today and evolving and changing if we need to”.
Those words did not just feel like a reference to the games to come.
You anticipate this side will look a little different when Newcastle next play in Europe, and that is before taking departures into account.
It was rather telling that Howe was fielding questions about the future of Sandro Tonali on the eve of one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history following yet another batch of comments from the midfielder’s agent, Giuseppe Riso, at the weekend.
Qualifying for the Champions League did not exactly help the club’s cause when it came to keeping hold of Alexander Isak.
But failing to finish in the top five will leave Newcastle particularly vulnerable in a window they have to get right following the turbulence of last summer.
