Kylian Mbappe’s words should fire Newcastle up after painful Borussia Dortmund full-time scenes

Fabian Schar dropped to his haunches and buried his head in his hands. Newcastle United are not out of the Champions League – not yet – but this painful 2-0 loss against Borussia Dortmund felt like more than a defeat. The Bundesliga giants are now four points clear of the injury-hit Magpies in the so-called group of death.

While Dortmund were clinical at Signal Iduna Park, Newcastle will leave Germany frustrated. Not only with their defending for the goals scored by Niclas Fullkrug and Julian Brandt in either half but, also, after failing to take their chances on a night Eddie Howe’s side were far from their intense best. How different could this game have been had Joelinton headed Newcastle level in the 55th minute? These are the margins at this level.

“We’re better than that,” Howe told reporters. “We can show a better version of ourselves than we did. I don’t think Dortmund have seen the best Newcastle and that always leaves a feeling of frustration when you are in my shoes.”

To think it was Dortmund, rather than Newcastle, who were bottom of the pile not so long ago and the black-and-whites who were top. However, Group F has since been turned on its head and Tuesday was the latest reminder of Dortmund’s know-how at this level in the club’s 150th game in the competition.

However, in some ways, Dortmund’s turnaround also proves Newcastle cannot be written off just yet with a huge game in Paris to come later this month. Even if Newcastle are going to have to do it the hard way – and that really is saying something in this group.

That showdown at the Parc des Princes will have so much riding on it for both teams following PSG’s 2-1 defeat against AC Milan last night. Kylian Mbappe, for one, has vowed that ‘we’re going to react well against Newcastle’ and the PSG star has spoken of how the hosts have ‘a lot of confidence’ at home. Those words should not scare Newcastle, though. If anything, they should fire the Magpies up; who could forget what happened in the reverse fixture at St James’ last month?

Stranger things have also occurred in this competition. Take the last time Newcastle were in the Champions League when Sir Bobby Robson’s side lost their opening three fixtures of the group, but still progressed.

Yet this was still a pivotal fixture. In truth, with the teams level on points before this game, and with Dortmund having a superior head-to-head record, Newcastle needed a result to take back to Tyneside.

That was going to be easier said than done without nine first-teamers who were either injured or absent – and that is before you mention those fringe players like Matt Ritchie and Emil Krafth who were ineligible – but this was a challenge to relish for a side who have already defeated PSG, Man City, Arsenal and Manchester United this season. As Schar put it: “It’s why you play football.”

This was a breath-taking arena to do just that. Schar was among one of only a handful of Newcastle players with experience of playing at Signal Iduna Park and away days certainly do not come much tougher than lining up in front of the Yellow Wall at this fortress. Dortmund had suffered just one defeat at home since September, 2022. That just so happened to be a 4-0 loss at the hands of title rivals Bayern Munich on Saturday night.

Dortmund were wounded and desperate to make up for that devastating defeat in front of their own supporters, who were as loud and as colourful as ever on Tuesday night, with 25,000 fans in place in the Yellow Wall half-an-hour before kick-off to boo the visitors as they emerged for the warm-up.

What a stage for Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall to make their Champions League debuts as Eddie Howe made three changes from the 1-0 win against Arsenal at the weekend on a night Joe Willock also came into the starting line-up. Initially, it was not clear how Newcastle would line up, with up to half a dozen of those starting all having experience of playing on the wing, but it was Hall who got the nod at left-back with Joelinton playing on the left wing and Livramento in an advanced role on the right.

That reshuffle was quickly tested with dominant Dortmund putting Newcastle under immediate pressure and finding gaps. Nick Pope was soon called into action after the quarter-hour mark to parry an effort from Niclas Fullkrug. Just a couple of minutes later, Pope had to be alert to keep out Karim Adeyemi’s rasping effort from inside the box.

Dortmund’s tails were up – Edin Terzic’s side had a whopping 73% possession in the opening stages – and the hosts soon took the lead just as Newcastle looked to have weathered an early storm. There were 26 minutes on the clock when Fabian Schar was caught up field and the ball fell to Nico Schlotterbeck. Newcastle players backed off Schlotterbeck to get back into shape and although the defender’s pass was hit straight at Schar, the ball ricocheted into the path of Fullkrug, who fed Felix Nmecha.

Jamaal Lascelles managed to block Nmecha’s initial pass but the midfielder tried again and found Fullkrug, who knocked the ball to Marcel Sabitzer inside the danger area. The Dortmund midfielder got there too easily ahead of Hall to cut the ball back to the unmarked Fullkrug, who made no mistake from close range.

The noise was deafening, but Newcastle did not crumble in this cauldron after going behind. The visitors stayed in the game and, crucially, went into half-time only a goal down. Howe used the break to make a double substitution as Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron replaced Callum Wilson and Lewis Hall, which led to Trippier moving over to left-back and Livramento dropping back to right-back.

It was one thing changing the personnel, though. Newcastle’s mentality had to change, too, and the visitors had to offer more going forward. They soon did. The second half had barely got under way when Schar spotted the run of Livramento with a superb cross field ball, but Gregor Kobel parried the full-back’s cross with Joelinton lurking.

Livramento found his man in the 55th minute with a whipped ball into the box, but Joelinton headed wide when the Brazil international should have really scored. It was a huge chance and, at this level, one Newcastle had to take. You only had to look at the reaction of Joelinton’s team-mates nearby, who all had their hands on their heads, to realise that.

Newcastle were eventually punished and, again, it was a preventable goal. Kieran Trippier’s poor free-kick was headed away at the near post and Dortmund broke at pace. With only Livramento back, Karim Adeyemi sent Julian Brandt clear with a long ball over the top and the winger picked out the bottom corner with a clinical finish. It was a hammer blow. Not only on the night – but in the context of the group, too.