Sometimes it’s difficult to move past something.
I would go as far to suggest that Sunday’s awful performance at West Ham was the sort of game that will leave a wince and a grimace on the face for many a month to come, as the Premier League table makes for difficult reading.
Tonight’s challenge was to park that for the infinitely more aesthetically pleasing Champions League table and, as a tonic for a club in need of a boost, the welcome return of a dear old friend.
I was old enough to remember the now-legendary UEFA Cup tie with Atletico Club Bilbao, but while I attended the home leg (and honoured the game by showing up tonight in the classic Asics blue kit worn for that match), I was far too young for the legendary venture to the Basque Country where so many firm friendships were formed.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the Bilbao fans stormed the pitch to applaud the raucous away end and every person who travelled to the match has a story of bottomless drink and hospitality. Find yourself an old timer and ask, but Mags of more recent generations might remember this relationship being revisited for Rob Lee’s testimonial, or even the Sela weekender a mere three years ago.
There is a perverted logic out there that claims Bilbao owe their colours to our local rivals, but the established fact is that they initially played in Blackburn colours, before buying a job lot of Southampton shirts on the boat out of England when unable to secure Rovers’ blue and white halves. This stuck and Bilbao remain clad in football’s most despicable uniform ever since. This did not affect their warm welcome as the days prior to this match were a testament to everything football, Europe and the world can be. Bilbao took their full allocation and descended on Newcastle en masse.
People who were there in ’94 and those that had heard of it were there to greet them and a decent party occurred up Percy Street on Tuesday. Game day saw more organised events, with Bilbao fans planting a tree (complete with plaque) at the Foundation building before receiving a commemorative flag from Wor Flags in the Bigg Market mid-afternoon. Said Bigg Market was absolutely chocka with Basques firmly bringing the party until they made their way en masse to the game. The big surprise of the day for me were the underdeployed and plentiful squads of riot vans, filled with coppers happily accepting overtime on a night when bother was never on the agenda.
Enough niceness though, and much as we like this lot there was business to be done, Newcastle went into this CL round in the automatic qualification places for the last 16. Win here and that position would be cemented, but we’d also be as good as assured of a knockout tie, as we’d need a mere couple of points from the halfway mark to secure a play off spot.
It was maybe a bit underwhelming then, to see that the only demotees from Sunday’s nightmare were Emil Krafth and Jacob Murphy, the only one who had actually put the ball in the onion bag at the London Stadium and second to the magnificent Malick Thiaw on the list of those who shouldn’t be blamed. Fair dos, that left nine lads who had a point to prove, plus Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes.
Thiaw gave an early indication of how he may be the ultimate successor to Fabian Schar with a glorious ball forward to pick out Joelinton. Joe controlled and finished well but to see the authority the linesman flung his flag up with, you’d think he was a mile offside. Looking at the replays I still have my doubts, possibly influenced by the voices of 90s TV commentators who had nowt but disdain for foreign officials.
It didn’t matter much anyway, as it took a mere two minutes for United to make the breakthrough. This was a massive contrast to the Joelinton effort as I assumed Dan Burn had done something wrong to be in such an astonishing acre of space from Trippier’s free kick. There was a bit of panache to the header, that seemed to have a bit of bend on it as it curled into the far corner.
Dan Burn Header Goal UCL Newcastle Bilbao
Lovely stuff, as Burn became the first player to score in more than one Champions League campaign for Newcastle. Some day he’ll be done setting records but let’s hope it’s a while off yet.
United plateaued slightly after this and allowed Bilbao to get a foothold in the game. A period of decent possession for the visitors climaxed with Boiro unleashing a vicious effort that smashed against the upright. Pope had to be on hand to prevent a couple of chances as well, not least when Gomez was set free due to the latest wayward pass from Anthony Gordon.
Do we need to talk about Gordon? Irrepressible in the Champions League to date, but alarming in our faltering league campaign, as he has now registered a half PL season without a goal contribution. He looked miles off tonight and when he went down under an innocuous challenge holding his hip, it was partial explanation and partial relief. The introduction of Murphy added impetus but me and the lads wondered if Elanga might have frightened the bejesus out of an injury ravaged Bilbao.
As it transpired, the settler came from the other flank, as Barnes’ took Murphy’s smart switch on but his strike was blocked. He managed to regather the ball though and floated in a delightful cross. From similar positions in the past, Joelinton has managed to batter multiple crossbars and posts, or 50p head the ball out for a throw-in, but this time he had the breathing space to power it in. Two nil felt decisive and so it would prove to be. Perhaps vindication for the manager as two of Sunday’s weaker performers provided the goals, hopefully a sign of growing determination as opposed to the usual competence at SJP that seems to get packed up and left there when we take to the road.
There were moments in the remainder of the game. Burn turned up in the box again and lashed a thunderbolt past the far post that would have looked incredible had it hit the spot. Murphy delivered one of his superb “on a plate” balls across that seemed to see Elanga and Woltemade get in each other’s way, the latter sort of paffing it wide.
Athletic Club were clearly struggling with injury, with two players even making their debuts off the bench (congrats Hierro and Selton), so the two goal margin was always comfortable. The final whistle went on a job well done, amid mutual respect from the packed away end and capacity crowd.
Athletic Club Bilbao Players Clapping Fans St James' Park Newcastle
This European campaign has proved to be an absolute tonic. Three winnable games may have looked troubling through the lens of Europe’s premier competition supplying absolutely no mugs, but an aggregate 9-0 win in that time has been a sharp contrast to a stuttering domestic campaign. None of you need me to tell you this, because everyone has looked, but we currently sit sixth in the big old table, between PSG and Real Madrid. I’d suggest that’s acceptable.
Atalanta’s win at Marseille suggests our next opponents (one win from four) are at least beatable and there’s a very real chance we can maintain this lofty position going into a final day visit to the champions in Paris. Irrespective of that, it seems certain Newcastle United will have their first ever European Cup knockout tie in the early months of 2026, and that, friends, promises to be a hell of a couple of nights.
The spectre of West Ham could not be exorcised by mere Champions League wins unfortunately, and I’m sure we all need to see this kind of heroic competence transfer to Brentford before a bit of a break, and hopefully more returns to complement the very excellent looking Lewis Hall who came on tonight. Make no mistake, this is still on to be a hell of a season.
Final word to Bilbao, thank you for coming and not spoiling our bit European fun this time. It will always be magnificent to see you. All round to yours next time?
Newcastle 2 Athletic Bilbao 0 – Wednesday 5 November 2025 8pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Newcastle United :
Burn 11, Joelinton 49
Bilbao:
Possession 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 v Athletic Bilbao:
Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn (Hall 65), Bruno (Miley 66), Joelinton, Tonali, Gordon (Jacob Murphy 41), Woltemade (Ramsey 83), Barnes (Elanga 66)
Subs:
Thompson, Ramsdale, Schar, Krafth, Willock, Alex Murphy
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