'Slapped' - What the Belgian media said about Newcastle United & Nick Woltemade after 4-0 Champions League win
Newcastle United beat Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night - here’s what the Belgian media had to say.
Newcastle United and Nick Woltemade were praised by the Belgian media following Wednesday night’s 4-0 Champions League win against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Woltemade and Harvey Barnes scored either side of two Anthony Gordon penalties in Brussels to help The Magpies secure their biggest ever Champions League win.
The victory saw Newcastle bounce back from a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in their opening Champions League match while Union SG were dealt somewhat of a reality check in their first-ever Champions League home match at Anderlecht’s Lotto Park.
Union SG won their opening Champions League match 3-1 at PSV Eindhoven last month.
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What the Belgian media said about NUFC following 4-0 win over Union SG
Brussels-based newspaper La Capitale, said Newcastle brought Union SG ‘back to earth’ with Newcastle’s 4-0 victory described as a ‘hell of a slap in the face’ to the Belgian champions.
The report made reference to Newcastle’s big budget’ as a Premier League side and described Eddie Howe’s side as a ‘clearly higher-lever opposition’.
That was evident on Wednesday evening as Woltemade turned in Newcastle’s opening goal from Sandro Tonali’s shot before Gordon converted two penalties and substitute Barnes completed the convincing win in the closing stages.
It was refreshing for Newcastle, who were drawn into a Champions League ‘group of death’ with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan back in the 2023/24 season, to be the ones dishing out reality checks in the competition following the change in format.
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Nick Woltemade verdict
Woltemade put in another strong display for Newcastle to take his tally to three goals in four starts following his £65million move from VfB Stuttgart.
Belgian outlet HLN wrote: “The German showed why Newcastle paid nearly €70million for him.”
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was also asked about the German striker after the match, where he made his full Champions League debut.
“His potential is high,” Howe said. “There are certain things we want to get more from him. The physicality of the Premier League will insist he does certain things, the covering of big distances.
“You have to do be able to do that to be effective, the constant nature of the ball is not out of play a lot in the Premier League, it is relentless. You have to be able to maintain that intensity for long periods of time.
“I think his stand out qualities are his technical ability and he looks like he has a nack for scoring goals, which is a great thing to have and of course his height and his presence which I think he can get better at the longer he is with us.
“I think it is an exciting start for him and he’s done really really well and more importantly he is willing and he wants to do the work and he wants to improve.