Plus: Celtic take the positives from a rare Champions League win against Feyenoord; Manchester United are knocked out of Europe after another defeat to Bayern Munich; Arsenal progress to the last 16 as group winners despite being held to a draw in PSV
Thursday 14 December 2023 12:20, UK
As has so often been the case amid this injury crisis, Newcastle ultimately ran out of steam at the most inopportune time.
Five of the seven goals conceded in the recent defeats to Everton and Tottenham came in the 59th minute or later, and it was the same story against AC Milan.
With an injury list that has often reached double figures, Eddie Howe was entitled to point to his inability to use the depth in his squad as a reason for their failure in Europe.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, there’s little time to regroup. They face five games in the next 17 days, with Paul Merson telling Sky Sports he is “worried” about Howe’s side.
With seven points separating Newcastle from fourth-placed Manchester City - and fifth place unlikely to be enough to reach the Champions League next season - Newcastle face an uphill task to return to the big time.
Joe Shread
Micah Hamilton first took instructions from Pep Guardiola as a ballboy in 2017. Six years later, the 20-year-old made a fitting debut having been with the club since the age of nine on a defining night for the Manchester City academy.
Hamilton scored the first, nearly teed up U23 graduate Oscar Bobb, who scored later anyway, and then won the penalty for Kalvin Phillips' goal which ended up being the winner.
Rico Lewis, another off the City production line, was excellent at right-back and is the heir to the Kyle Walker throne for both club and country. There was also a debut for 18-year-old Mahamadou Susoho, who has been in the academy since 2017.
City have invested heavily in their youth section, opening a £200m, state-of-the-art training facility in 2014 which has recouped more than £260m in the last six years through player sales. The biggest obstacle the youngsters face in reaching the first team is the wealth of riches at the club's disposal in the transfer market.
But mature performances like Hamilton's are impossible to ignore and puts faith in the academy's work.
David Richardson
Gustaf Lagerbielke was Celtic's unlikely hero as his stoppage-time header earned them their first Champions League win since 2017 and their first at home for a decade.
It's been a disappointing campaign and they arguably played better at times in the group games they lost this season, but it gives a glimmer of hope for Brendan Rodgers' side in European competition.
There were a number of other positives for the Hoops - Luis Palma's perfect penalty to fire them ahead, Liam Scales' player-of-the-match performance and 17-year-old Mitchel Frame making an impressive debut in the second half.
Rodgers has been quick to point out their squad issues this season, with injuries to key players including Liel Abada, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Wednesday is a step in the right direction, earns Celtic £2m and two coefficient points - which is massive in the push to secure Champions League places for Scottish teams in seasons to come.
This result, though, will not hide the fact that Celtic need investment in the squad if they are to have a real chance of competing at this level and remaining in European competition beyond Christmas.
Alison Conroy
There was consternation from far beyond Old Trafford about the way Man Utd approached a game they simply had to win against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
At 0-0 for the first hour, they could potentially bide their time. At that point, a solitary goal, one moment of magic alone would have been enough to seal their progression to the Champions League last 16 with Copenhagen drawing against Galatasaray.
But by the time Kingsley Coman all but ended their hopes with what would prove the winner 10 minutes later, they still hadn't taken the handbrake off.
Nor did they until the end of the game at Old Trafford, mustering one measly shot on target throughout the 90 minutes - and that came halfway through the first period, from left-back Luke Shaw. And had an xG of 0.02.
Perhaps it should be no surprise - after the 48th minute, they managed only one touch in the Bayern box.
If this was the game plan, and it seems it was, it was bizarre. Erik Ten Hag's post-match comments only seemed to cement that. "The team did very good, we were very good defensively and in the pressing," he told TNT Sports. "We had many ball regains, especially second half."
He has defended his team and hidden his true feelings before. See his loyalty despite the manner of defeat at Newcastle last week. But this rang too true to what we had all seen on the pitch, that there never was a plan to go gung-ho despite the arithmetic.
Man Utd had played an open game against Chelsea six days earlier on the same ground and emerged victorious, though the Blues were stretched by an injury crisis and passed up numerous opportunities to counter.
Put Bayern up against Chelsea, and the Germans would win nine times out of 10 on current form.
But if this is the level of limitation Ten Hag believes afflicts his side, to a point where he is too apprehensive to open up - at all - against a side who were beaten 5-1 in their last away game at the weekend, well. His post-match hopes that Man Utd "want to be back in the Champions League again" will not be achieved any time soon.
Ron Walker
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It's hardly the claim of the century that the second-favourites to win the Champions League might win the Champions League.
But there have already been questions asked of whether Harry Kane will get his hands on any long-awaited silverware this season given Bayer Leverkusen's indestructible start to the Bundesliga season and Bayern's humiliation in the DFB-Pokal and German Super Cup.
The Champions League may well be their best bet. Nothing is proven by winning a group containing teams 42nd and 54th in the UEFA club coefficient rankings, and a Manchester United side who spent as much time knocking themselves out of Europe than needing anyone else to do it for them.
But they have passed the first test, without any major bumps in the road, and would not turn down potential trips to clubs like PSV, Napoli or Lazio in the last 16.
This is also a team steeped in European history, led by a coach in Thomas Tuchel whose achievements suggest he is at times better suited to this competition than a domestic league campaign.
The last time Bayern Munich lifted the trophy, it was his PSG side who were narrowly beaten in the final, their first and only appearance at that stage. It was his Chelsea team who lifted the European Cup in 2021, four years after their last Premier League title.
His team now is arguably better than either of those previous two. He has Kane firing on all cylinders in attack, Leroy Sane dancing past defenders and Kingsley Coman popping up when it matters. Jamal Musiala. You could go on.
Kane was, as he always is, diplomatic and non-commital about Bayern's chances after their win at Old Trafford on Tuesday - but with a steely self-belief you would not have heard during his Tottenham days.
"That's the aim of the club, to go and win the tournament," he told TNT Sports. "It's tough with clubs around Europe thinking the same thing, and we've got other levels we can achieve. But if we fight together, we've got a chance."
With Tuchel at the helm and him in the driving seat, you sense there might not be a repeat of last season's disappointing quarter-final exit to Man City - who themselves don't look quite at the same level this time around.
Few would begrudge the England captain a chance to lift Europe's proudest, and certainly biggest, trophy. That's for sure.
Ron Walker
You wouldn't have been able to tell that his strike at PSV was Eddie Nketiah's first Champions League goal.
The confidence the Arsenal forward had to blast past goalkeeper Walter Benitez with his weaker left foot gave the impression he had been playing at this level for years, not making his maiden start in Europe's premier club competition.
This season, Nketiah has shown flashes of brilliance but has failed to find consistency. For example, his hat-trick against Sheffield United in October was followed by a limp display at Newcastle - and Gabriel Jesus was reinstated as Arsenal's No 9 with minimal fuss after that.
But while Jesus has been an effective option for Mikel Arteta, he has been very wasteful. Since his return from injury in late November, Jesus has registered 2.34 Expected Goals on Target - the most out of any Arsenal player by some distance - but has one goal to show for it.
One thing Nketiah has that Jesus lacks is a clinical edge. Can he use that to his advantage to edge ahead in the Arsenal striker pecking order?
Sam Blitz
Many were surprised to see Declan Rice appear in Arsenal's dead-rubber Champions League tie at PSV. But an even bigger shock was seeing the England midfielder come on in defence.
Rice replaced William Saliba for the final half an hour and filled in at centre-back. Arteta said the experiment was needed as an injury to Saliba or defensive partner Gabriel would leave the Gunners exposed.
"Well he's played there before and we have to try in case of an emergency," the Arsenal manager said after the game. "I will have to make sure that we can fill the gap in the right way."
Rice can play in defence - it was his first position in professional football after all. But it's far from ideal. Since the 2019-20 season, his first campaign as the defensive midfielder role we recognise him in, he has played centre-back just twice in club football.
Against PSV, Rice was turned easily by Ismael Saibari before the PSV attacker hit the post. It's not a natural role.
So with Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu long-term absentees, will Arteta move for a defender in January?
Sam Blitz
