Newcastle 2 Athletic Bilbao 0 – Wednesday November 5, 2025 8:00 PM
Direct fan/writer response from some of our regular contributors to The Mag.
Nat Seaton:
‘Another great Champions League result, taking us up to sixth in the league, pinch me!!
Not at our very best, much better than Sunday, but a well-deserved European victory with two great goals and a clean sheet.
A real positive was that Lewis Hall was back on the field.
Hopefully we can carry this momentum into our away match on Sunday and head into the international break with a good performance and maybe, just maybe, our first PL away win of the season…’
Billy Miller:
‘First victory achieved.
I felt like we weren’t looking at it in the first half, but Burn with the best header I’ve seen since… Burn in the cup final, put us ahead.
Much better in the second half and could have scored more than the two goals, but was left out in the last twenty minutes.
Hall was cheerful when he entered. A huge boost to see him again.
Half way through 6th in the league.’
GTone:
‘A decent result and ultimately an excellent performance.
I wish Eddie would pick players who aren’t sick or injured.
Feel sorry for Gordon, who is willing to put himself through the pain barrier and then clearly isn’t fit to play. Same with Bruno.
Wissa has to get to work, because Big Nick seems like the games are catching up with him.
Pope made some decent saves, coupled with some terrible kickouts that came straight into contact.
Thiaw was excellent and Hall looked very good when he came on.
We bet BDB were buzzing after that header.
I will have to step up a level at Brentford to achieve anything this weekend.”
Matt Busby said…:
‘Back to winning ways, a very successful achievement.
Now that we’re not involved in the group of death, it’s pretty clear that we can more than hold our own against the rest of what Europe has to offer, the kind of sides that the likes of Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool routinely push aside because of their placement in this competition.
Athletic Bilbao had to perform as their fans did prior to the match, but fell well short.
I thought Malick Thiaw was great, but a slew of others put in some decent turnovers. Big Dan Burn with a thunderous header reminiscent of his try at Wembley, and Barnes for the cross that set up Joelinton as the standout moments in a match we won comfortably.’
David Punton:
‘I can’t complain too much because this win took us to nine points in the Champions League. Pretty good!
It wasn’t all plain sailing though as the first half was far from great apart from Dan Burn’s header opener.
They were the better of us in midfield and we were sidelined for a long time. The postal service comes to our rescue.
Still a beautiful goal from the set. Tripps with a lovely ball and Burn ghosting in to go home unmarked.
Much better from United after the break.
The standard went up and we had a great period, with Barnes chasing Joelinton for the crucial second goal.
There was late pressure, as you would expect, but we held on.”
Tony Mallabar:
‘2-0… wasn’t even half of it tonight.
I was a bit shocked before the game when Dan Burn claimed he had plenty of credit in the bank as a first-team starter.
Well, he certainly proved that with our opener.
Furthermore, it is just my opinion, but woltardae is not number 9, but certainly a 10 in the waiting list.
Gordon is woefully out of form and Jacob Murphy proves Elanga needs to improve his game x10.
After all, Kieran Trippier was/is an absolute legend and still part of the process.’
Simon Ritter:
‘A dodgy first 25 minutes, despite BDB’s brilliant header from Trippier’s dead ball. Where have we seen that double act before?
Every time he touched the ball, Gordon lost possession. He seemed to exacerbate rumors of a hip injury, which could be a blessing. A month on the sidelines, no England call-up, time to get back to his best.
Excellent teamwork, including an overlapping run from Burn that made space for Barnes to cross accurately, allowed Joelinton to bury the second.
The apparent forced replacement of BDB with Hall could also be good news, provided the big man is available to face Brentford.
There were still too many misplaced passes and wrong options, forcing Pope to make impressive saves more than once, but this was so much better than last Sunday.
Man of the Match: Joelinton, back to his industrious best.’
Mark Jankowski:
‘Another win and another clean sheet in the Champions League.
Despite the indifference in Newcastle’s performance in the Premier League, we are progressing comfortably in the cup competitions this season.
All eyes are now on Sunday to see if we can finally turn the corner in the competition.’
Newcastle 2 Athletic Bilbao 0 – Wednesday November 5, 2025 8:00 PM
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Fire 11, Joelinton 49
Bilbao:
Possess was Newcastle 58% Bilbao 42%
Total shots were Newcastle 8 Bilbao 12
Shots on target were Newcastle 4 Bilbao 5
Corners were Newcastle 2 Bilbao 5
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 20 Bilbao 16
Newcastle team vs Athletic Bilbao:
Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn (Room 65), Bruno (Miley 66), Joelinton, Tonali, Gordon (Jacob Murphy 41), Woltemade (Ramsey 83), Barnes (Elanga 66)
subtitles:
Thompson, Ramsdale, Schar, Krafth, Osula, Willock, Alex Murphy
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