The 'crazy' thing about Newcastle United's Champions League trip to Borussia Dortmund

Newcastle United brought the party to Dortmund on Tuesday - but couldn't bring back any Champions League points.

A 2-0 defeat at the Signal Iduna Park undoubtedly put a dampener on the lively scenes in Dortmund city centre ahead of the game as thousands of Geordies travelled to Germany for the match.

Less than 4,000 fans had tickets in the away end with many based in the home end - the rest remained in the city to watch the match on television.

Borussia Dortmund fans witnessing the pre-match build-up at the Alter Markt in the heart of Dortmund told The Gazette the Newcastle fans were 'crazy' for travelling in such numbers and described the scenes of chanting, beer drinking and dancing as said to be comparable to when Dortmund have won the Bundesliga. The Toon Army almost became a pop-up attraction for locals to film and photograph.

This was just another game for the German Champions League regulars, for Newcastle fans it was another trip to savour. Dortmund itself lacked the culture and warmth of Milan back in September, but a bit of beer and music is all the United fans needed to keep themselves happy.

Nearby Dusseldorf was the more trendy and happening overnight option for many making the trip over before taking a 45 minute train - free of charge with a match ticket - into Dortmund.

The Alter Markt, was a short Metro journey or half-hour walk to the Signal Iduna Park. A crowd of 81,365 packed into the iconic ground for the Group F match with victory for Dortmund leaving them in pole position to qualify for the last-16 of the competition.

Consecutive defeats for Newcastle against BVB leaves them sitting bottom of the group with two games left to play. It is still very much all to play for as Eddie Howe's side bid to make sure the trip to Paris later this month won't be the last European away day of the season.

Despite having nothing to celebrate on the pitch so far, Newcastle fans certainly seem to be enjoying the return of Champions League away days after over 20 years out of the competition.

The question is will the novelty of the trips wear off and simply become the new business as usual for The Magpies?