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<\/p>\nNewcastle United\u2019s Sandro Tonali appears dejected during the defeat to Dortmund<\/p>\n
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The Champions League has seen Newcastle at its finest, complete with the surreal vision of Sean Longstaff upstaging Kylian Mbappe. There is a temptation to imagine Dan Burn is still somewhere in the Tyneside sky, soaring above Milan Skriniar to head in against Paris Saint-Germain. There is a similar temptation to say that Newcastle were brought down to earth by Borussia Dortmund. <\/p>\n
It may be more accurate to say Eddie Howe never left it. He met one of his most celebrated predecessors, Kevin Keegan, on Monday. The former Magpies boss was a dreamer. \u201cYou have to be,\u201d said Howe, with Keegan\u2019s example leading him to entertain the prospect of winning the Champions League. But Howe isn\u2019t a dreamer, not really, anyway. A day, a defeat and a downpour later, he reflected: \u201cWe have to be at our best to win and if you dip below that it is tough to get results at this level.\u201d <\/p>\n
And in this pool, the most competitive of all, Newcastle have to be at their best to claim victory in a match, let alone the entire competition. They were against Paris Saint-Germain; they were not against Dortmund. At a stroke \u2013 the right boot of Felix Nmecha, replacing Jude Bellingham this season, or of bad luck, as Callum Wilson and Anthony Gordon both struck the woodwork \u2013 they may have been rebranded: potential winners, the team who tore PSG apart, could instead exit early. They now have successive away games, with the evidence that Dortmund are well equipped to play against them ahead of a trip to Germany next.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re up against elite teams,\u201d Howe said. \u201cYou make half a mistake and get punished.\u201d If there is a truth to that \u2013 and Nmecha\u2019s winner was scarcely the consequence of a glaring error \u2013 the greater issue was that Newcastle did not reach their heights. \u201cWe probably weren\u2019t at our best and in this competition we have to be.\u201d Howe said. They have days when they overwhelm opponents: 4-1 against PSG, 6-1 against Tottenham. But their quality is most evident when allied with a blur of energy. <\/p>\n
And when there isn\u2019t that synergy of physical and technical that makes them appear unstoppable, they are a fundamentally workmanlike side who betray their origins. Which, as they spent much of a 1-0 loss to Dortmund with six players on the pitch who Howe inherited, is a group who have overachieved: look beyond the \u00a3400m spend, the concept of Saudi Arabian sportswashing and the grandiose ambitions, and some of them were in a relegation battle two years ago. <\/p>\n
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A Champions League loss represented progress in that context. But if there were symbolic substitutions of the locals Longstaff and Burn, stripped of the superhuman powers they somehow possessed against PSG, perhaps the reality is that they could have been beaten twice in three games. Nick Pope\u2019s heroics brought a point in Milan; he was similarly good against Dortmund but in vain. They have drawn a blank twice in three matches. They had a lone, late shot on target in San Siro. While they hit the woodwork twice, they only actually had three on target against Dortmund, and just one in the last 80 minutes. <\/p>\n
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Alexander Isak leaves the pitch following an injury<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the second half the ball just wouldn\u2019t go in for us,\u201d Howe said. It was a legitimate lament, yet there are days when a shortage of natural creativity, of game-changing flair, of a natural No 10 can threaten to be their undoing. Edin Terzic arrowed in on Newcastle\u2019s strengths. \u201cA team that was pressing high with a very intense approach,\u201d the Dortmund manager noted. It is a strategy that can serve Newcastle well but running alone did not unlock the Bundesliga\u2019s runners-up. Moving Kieran Trippier into midfield in the second half was an attempt to get United\u2019s best creator into a more advanced role. <\/p>\n
He may be required there more often. Sandro Tonali was not hired as a fantasista but he was designed to bring an injection of class. But his season seems over: not officially yet, but a ban beckons. Elliot Anderson has joined the injury list. In the forward line, Newcastle, already without Harvey Barnes for months, seem to be losing Jacob Murphy for a similar time with a dislocated shoulder. For Alexander Isak, a recurrence of a groin strain means he will play again soonest, but be out for a while. They are starting to look short of players. \u201cThere are some tired bodies,\u201d Howe said. <\/p>\n
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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe looks on during a miserable night for Newcastle<\/p>\n
And Newcastle can require a physical edge, especially in meetings of evenly-matched teams. \u201cA lesson in how fine the margins are going to be,\u201d Howe rued. Particularly in Group F: this pool, of pedigree and money, of former winners and clubs who aspire to join them in that select group, may be the most intriguing. It is a product of circumstances. Newcastle\u2019s lack of a recent record in Europe meant they were fourth seeds. Now they are plunged into peril. \u201cThe table looks very, very tight,\u201d Howe said; his side kicked off in first, finished the night in third and could be out of the competition before they host AC Milan in it. They will always have Paris, but now the danger is their Champions League campaign in effect ends in the French capital.<\/p>\n