On Tuesday night, Newcastle found it tough going against Borussia Dortmund again in their second Champions League encounter.
As with the first at St. James’ Park, the match ended in defeat for the Magpies, who are holding onto their European dream by their fingernails.
Currently bottom of Group F, Newcastle fans will obviously be disappointed after the club’s magnificent showing against Paris Saint-Germain at St. James’ Park.
However, it was dubbed the ‘Group of death’ for a reason, and the fact that they’re still in with a chance of qualification to the knockout stages with two games left to play has to be seen as a positive for Eddie Howe’s side.
Ultimately, Newcastle may well exit at the group stage, however, their first foray into the Champions League in over two decades will have seen them learn an awful lot and come back stronger after their next qualification.
Of course things still aren’t over, and thanks to AC Milan’s surprise win against PSG, if Newcastle can win their two remaining matches, there’s every chance of making it out of the group at the expense of one of the big boys.
The message that Howe will surely be trying to drum into his side over the next couple of weeks is that all is definitely not lost at this point.
The players owe it to those who pay their hard-earned every week to dig deep and try their upmost to pull off a Houdini act of sorts.