Borussia Dortmund issue complaint to UEFA during Champions League win over Newcastle United - five things

Newcastle United's Champions League qualification hopes took a serious knock with a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund - here are five talking points from the match.

Surprise Newcastle United triple change made by Eddie Howe

After beating Arsenal 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, Eddie Howe handed out three full Champions League debuts to Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Joe Willock.

Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron both dropped to the bench while Dan Burn dropped out due to injury.

The game saw Hall start at left-back, Willock in midfield and Livramento on the right wing. But in the second half Livramento dropped to right-back, Hall was withdrawn and Gordon and Almiron were introduced at the break.

Both Gordon and Almiron have been two of United's biggest attacking threats this season with seven goals between them in all competitions.

But Howe pointed to the quick turnaround from Saturday to Tuesday as a reason why he felt 'forced' to make changes to his starting line-up.

“I think we’ve lost the ability to make certain decisions,” Howe claimed. “In a sense, I’m being forced to make certain decisions and pick certain teams.

“Looking at Anthony Gordon, he played for 90 minutes against Arsenal and gave absolutely everything physically, and I think the turnaround for him was just too quick. I didn’t think he could start the match, so we had to use him as an impact player.

“In a different set of circumstances, you’d probably have liked to have played a different type of winger, but I’m not going to sit here and make excuses, that’s what we have.”

Newcastle travelled to the Signal Iduna Park with just 16 senior first-team players with 12 ruled out for the match. Despite being ineligible to feature, Matt Ritchie and Mark Gillespie both made the journey over to Germany in support of the squad.

Newcastle United fans issue thank you message to Borussia Dortmund

Following Newcastle United home and away is not cheap, especially given the high demand for tickets at the moment.

So it was refreshing to see tickets in the away end priced from £16.50 for Newcastle fans.

In response to the cheap prices, The Magpies supporters displayed a banner thanking Dortmund for their pricing strategy.

The banner read: "Change from £20, thanks BVB. Twenty's plenty."

In comparison, Newcastle have charged £60 for adult tickets at St James' Park in the Champions League this season.

Borussia Dortmund make complaint to UEFA during 2-0 win

While Dortmund did the business on the pitch with goals from Niclas Fullkurg and Julian Brandt in either half, the home supporters issued a thinly veiled complaint to UEFA.

A banner displayed from the Yellow Wall read: "You don't care about the sport - all you care about is money."

There was also a link to the website nein-zur-cl-reform.de which objects to next season's reform of the Champions League to a 36-team competition.

Dortmund supporters argue the decision to change the tried and tested Champions League group stage format is financially motivated due to more matches being played as a result.

Newcastle United's shining light on a disappointing evening

As mentioned, 20-year-old Tino Livramento was one of three Newcastle players handed their full Champions League debut at Dortmund.

The former Southampton man started on the right-wing before dropping to right-back and later left-back during the match.

After struggling in a more advanced position in the first half, Livramento came into his own in a more natural role in the second. And in a sub-par Magpies performance, the youngster was arguably the visitors' man of the match.

In three starts since his £31million move from The Saints in the summer, Livramento has arguably been Newcastle's best player in all three.

In contrast, 19-year-old Lewis Hall was somewhat at fault for Dortmund's opener and was withdrawn at half-time once again. Howe pointed to the fact the left-back was booked early in the first-half as the reason for his substitution at the midway point in the match.

And in the closing stages, Howe handed out another Champions League debut as 17-year-old Lewis Miley became the clubs youngest ever player in a European competition.

On a disappointing and frustrating evening for the club on the whole, Miley's debut and Livramento's performance were two small positives.

Where do Newcastle United go from here?

Ahead of the Champions League double header against Dortmund, Newcastle sat pretty at the top of their Champions League group.

Now, after back-to-back defeats against the Bundesliga side, The Magpies are bottom with their chances of progression to the last-16 significantly dented.

Elsewhere in the group, AC Milan's 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain blows things wide open in terms of qualification.

Newcastle know two wins from their final two group stage matches against PSG and Milan would be enough to qualify - four points may even be enough.

But it's a tough task for Howe's side amid an injury crisis and hectic fixture schedule.

As of yet, The Magpies have only truly turned up in one of their four Champions League matches this season. The 4-1 win at home to PSG is the only time the club have scored in this season's competition, drawing blanks at the San Siro as well as home and away to Dortmund.

Given Newcastle have scored in all but one of their domestic matches so far this season, it's a significant disparity as they struggle to translate their Premier League and Carabao Cup form onto the continent.