Bruno Guimaraes 'turning point' & fresh Newcastle United injury concerns as PSG slip-up - five things

Newcastle United crashed out of the Champions League in dramatic fashion following a 2-1 defeat against AC Milan at St James' Park - here are five talking points from the match.

Eddie Howe makes a change plus Newcastle United injury boost

Newcastle went into the game needing to win to have a chance of progressing through to the last-16. After naming an unchanged outfield for each of the last five matches, head coach Eddie Howe opted to finally make a change for the decisive group stage clash.

Callum Wilson returned to the starting line-up for the first time in over a month following a hamstring injury as Alexander Isak dropped to the bench. Martin Dubravka kept his place in goal despite a pre-match illness concern while Sean Longstaff remained on the bench.

There was also a welcome injury return on The Magpies' bench with defender Dan Burn back involved after missing the last seven matches with a back issue. Slowly but surely, Newcastle's injury crisis is starting to ease.

A milestone performance for Joelinton

Joelinton made his 150th appearance for Newcastle on Wednesday night and gave his side the breakthrough with his third goal of the campaign. Lewis Miley broke another niche record by becoming the youngest-ever player to grab a Champions League assist for a Premier League club as the 17-year-old teed up Joelinton to smash the ball into the left corner of the goal to make it 1-0 in the first half.

It was no less than Newcastle deserved in the match as they took the narrow advantage into the second half. Joelinton was at the heart of everything The Magpies did well in the match with his power and positivity on and off the ball making him a real handful for Milan to cope with.

It was a man-of-the-match display from the Brazilian in many ways. He was one player who didn't deserve to be on the losing side when Milan turned things around in the second half with goals from Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze "We had a few that didn't deserve to be on the losing side," Howe told The Gazette afterwards. "Joe scored a great goal, as always, he gave everything to the match physically. Off the ball, I thought he was excellent and it was good to see him score in consecutive games." 

Borussia Dortmund do their job

Perhaps what made the result even more difficult to take was the fact that Borussia Dortmund did their job by holding Paris Saint-Germain to a 1-1 draw at the Signal Iduna Park to top the group. Dortmund took the lead through Karim Adeyemi at a time when Newcastle were also leading 1-0 and everything looked quite rosy.

But things quickly turned around as AC Milan equalised at St James' Park and Warren Zaire-Emery drew PSG level at Dortmund. With that, the group was blown wide open once again heading into the closing stages.

PSG thought they'd taken the lead through Kylian Mbappe only for VAR to rule out the strike for offside.

As things stood, Newcastle needed a goal to progress to the last-16 while Milan needed a goal to clinch a Europa League spot. A goal for Milan and a winner for Dortmund would have seen the Serie A side progress.

As it happened, the scoreline remained 1-1 in Dortmund but Milan were able to snatch an 84th minute winner at St James' Park as Chukwueze finished a swift counter-attacking move. With that, Newcastle were out of Europe entirely with Milan claiming the Europa League spot while Dortmund and PSG progressed to the last-16.

Fresh Newcastle injury concerns

Howe was forced to make changes in the second half with Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon both withdrawn shortly after Milan's equaliser. Trippier had picked up a knock in the first half while Gordon was nursing a slight hamstring issue that was preventing him from sprinting 'fully', according to Howe.

Neither issue is thought to be serious with Trippier already ruled out of Newcastle's next match against Fulham on Saturday due to suspension.

It's all ifs and buts for Newcastle United

We hoped it wouldn't come to this, and perhaps it is clutching at straws slightly but Newcastle can feel hard done by their exit from Europe. Miguel Almiron was denied what would have been a certain goal by Fikayo Tomori in the first half and Mike Maignan made a spectacular save to deny Bruno Guimaraes in the second which proved to be a turning point in the match.

The fine margins are cruel on this occasion and you could even go back to an incorrect penalty call at Paris Saint-Germain which ultimately took fate out of their own hands heading into the final group stage match.

It's all ifs and buts, as it always is when a side suffers a defeat in football. Perhaps if Newcastle had won in Paris, as they were so close to doing, things would have been different as the whole complexion of the final group stage match day changes.

They wouldn't have needed to push for a winner against Milan that allowed the visitors to catch them out on the counter. It's all hypothetical, though Milan can also feel aggrieved as the penalty decision against Newcastle at Parc des Princes also technically cost the Serie A side a spot in the last-16.

Newcastle were so close yet so far. While the record books will show this as the club's worst-ever Champions League performance as they became only the fourth English side to finish bottom of their group in the competition, the reality is so much more complex and there is still so much to be proud of from the ultimately ill-fated campaign.

Newcastle gave the so-called group of death their best shot and caused a real stir but just fell short in the end.