· 6 November 2025, 19:00
Newcastle United kept another Champions League clean sheet last night as they swept aside Athletic Club Bilbao 2-0 at St James' Park.
The Magpies have now scored 10 goals in the Champions League and have conceded just twice, with both of those coming in the opening game against Barcelona. Incidentally, Newcastle have only scored 10 goals in the Premier League this season so far, having played six games more.
Athletic Club came very close a couple of times last night, with Nick Pope making some big saves, and the post coming to Newcastle's rescue on two occasions.
But things could always have been a lot worse for Pope were it not for the centre-back pairing of Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.
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"Flawless"
Dean Ashton says Malick Thiaw was commanding at the back for Newcastle on Wednesday
Former West Ham striker Dean Ashton was very impressed by Malick Thiaw's performance last night, telling TalkSPORT on Wednesday evening that he was flawless against Athletic Bilbao (h/t Inside Futbol).
“Malick Thiaw, I thought, didn’t put a foot wrong. He was outstanding.
“He has come in, he is keeping Fabian Schar out of the team.
“It wasn’t a fantastic performance from Newcastle, but he was flawless, commanding in his one-versus-one duels, superb with the ball at his feet to play out and really has started to look comfortable in that Newcastle backline.”
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Malick Thiaw has been recalled to the Germany squad
It's no surprise to any Newcastle fans who have been watching Thiaw this season that he's been recalled to the German national side today.
One criticism that was levelled at the 24-year-old during his time at AC Milan was that he was not consistent enough, but that hasn't been a problem at Newcastle so far.
The £35 million we paid for Thiaw in the summer already looks like a steal.