On Wednesday evening, Newcastle United played against Athletic Bilbao.
A pair of headers from Dan Burn and Joelinton lifted Newcastle to victory as they defeated Athletic Club in the Champions League.
Five things we learned from Newcastle United vs Athletic Bilbao
Bend it like Burn
Dan Burn put the Magpies ahead after a well-worked set piece from Kieran Trippier.
Trippier has set up Burn’s last three goals.
Before the match, Burn said he was confident he will continue playing even if Lewis Hall returns. With the quality that Lewis Hall has, Burn will have to keep performing to keep his place.
Newcastle’s new set-piece coach, Martin Mark, arrived in July 2025. Since Mark’s arrival, there have been small glimpses of improvement in the set-piece department. However, they have not yet reached the heights of which they are capable. Hopefully this heralds a new set-piece era for United.
Gordon’s early departure
Eddie Howe was forced into an early substitution, leaving Anthony Gordon to make way for Jacob Murphy in the 41st minute.
Gordon was withdrawn at half-time with a hip injury against West Ham, with Newcastle’s number 10 seemingly aggravating the same problem against Athletic Club.
It was forty minutes to forget for Gordon, who struggled to have any influence on the match. He was dispossessed three times and had four passes misplaced in the first half.
The Champions League Gordon and the Premier League Gordon were polar opposites, but his 40 minutes on Wednesday night were similar to how he has started his Premier League campaign.
Howe goes with his favorites
After a shock performance against West Ham, Howe was left with a big headache and had to make some equally big decisions.
He stated after the West Ham defeat that he could have filled in for all the players.
Newcastle fans are used to a calm, cool and collected Eddie Howe.
Many fans were hoping for and expecting big changes after Howe’s outburst about his side. Eddie made only two changes, with Trippier and Barnes coming into the starting eleven.
Howe’s favorites took care of him in this Champions League win, with Burn and Joelinton netting the crucial three points.
Three wins, three clean sheets
Since Newcastle’s opening Champions League defeat against Barcelona, the Magpies have had the upper hand over Union SG (4-0 win), Benfica (3-0 win) and Athletic Club (2-0 win).
Newcastle have done everything right in the Champions League so far and are in a good position to reach the knockout stages. The Mags still have to face Marseille (Away), Leverkusen (Away), PSV (Home) and finally PSG (Away).
This good form has seen them rise to sixth in the Champions League, above Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona and Dortmund.
The only English teams above them are Man City and Arsenal. The incredible European position they have found themselves in adds to the Premier League’s frustration.
The summer recruitment was to compete on all four fronts (Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup). They do well in the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, but ultimately they fail in the Premier League.
Bring on Brentford
Does victory against Athletic Club ease the pressure for Brentford on Sunday?
No, Newcastle cannot afford to go into the next international break with less than three points against Brentford.
Curious about what you all took away from this match against Athletic Bilbao in the comments below?
#learned #Newcastle #United #Athletic #Bilbao