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There is a contrast between their fortunes in England and Europe. Edin Terzic had studied the statistics. \u201cWe manged to win twice against Newcastle, their only two defeats in 13 matches, every time with a clean sheet,\u201d noted the Dortmund manager. Only Manchester City and Brighton have shut Newcastle out in the Premier League or Carabao Cup; Milan have done once and Dortmund twice in the Champions League.<\/p>\n
Newcastle have not scored away in Europe. \u201cI think we have had chances in both games,\u201d said Howe. \u201cMaybe haven\u2019t been as clinical as we would like.\u201d Yet they had a lone shot on target in San Siro, from Sean Longstaff in injury time, and if Joelinton was profligate in the Signal Iduna Park, others did not get the opportunity to be.<\/p>\n
Newcastle felt insufficiently creative. Maybe it would have been different had Gordon been able to set the tone by rousing, riling and rattling. \u201cAnthony played 90 minutes against Arsenal and gave everything,\u201d Howe explained. \u201cThe turnaround was too quick for him to start so we wanted to use him as an impact player.\u201d There was reason behind the rotation but it backfired.<\/p>\n
Yet Dortmund showed what they lacked. Newcastle have no player of the inventiveness of Julian Brandt, no specialist in picking the lock. Their system contains no space for a No 10; their squad has no one with that skillset, though Brandt excels playing off the left for Dortmund. Perhaps European football necessitates more of an artist; maybe a future spending spree should be focused around someone with those qualities.<\/p>\n
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That lack of a genuine creator in the final third is a partial explanation of their inability to score in three of four Champions League games. Some of the goals they did score in the other – Burn\u2019s magnificent header, Fabian Schar\u2019s long-range strike \u2013 were the most special because they had the feel of one-offs.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Nick Pope\u2019s heroics have come to seem the norm. The goalkeeper has been Newcastle\u2019s finest player in three of their other supposed elite players were out of sorts, on the bench or absent altogether, it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
Maybe Newcastle\u2019s efforts won\u2019t be, either: and if this is a learning curve, a lesson may be that overachieving in England is one thing. Doing it in Europe is altogether harder.<\/p>\n