BORUSSIA DORTMUND STAR BLOWN AWAY BY NEWCASTLE UNITED PRESSING

Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was blown away by the sheer intensity of Newcastle United’s pressing.

Newcastle United have been praised by Gregor Kobel, despite losing to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night.

The Magpies were hoping for another rousing night at St James’ Park after beating Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 last time out in the Champions League.

It just wasn’t to be, as Dortmund claimed a 1-0 victory thanks to a lovely strike from midfielder Felix Nmecha.

Newcastle had their chances but couldn’t make them count, meaning they have now won one, drawn one and lost one in the Champions League this season.

Gregor Kobel comments on Newcastle United

The man who kept denying Newcastle was Dortmund stopper Gregor Kobel.

The Swiss international has become one of the top goalkeepers in Europe and we certainly saw that on Wednesday night.

Kobel twice denied Anthony Gordon in the first half before a superb close-range stop kept Callum Wilson at bay.

Newcastle did rattle Kobel’s woodwork on a couple of occasions, but the Dortmund stopper will feel that he earned a bit of fortune.

Kobel spoke to Dortmund’s official website after the game and made a comment about Newcastle’s pressing.

Kobel noted that Newcastle are ‘extremely aggressive’ and ‘very intense’ in their pressing, admitting that Dortmund had to put in a lot of effort to win.

“I always try to help my team and be there when they need me,” said Kobel. “Towards the end, we had some luck when they hit the bar twice. Newcastle press extremely aggressively. It was very intense. We were in a bad situation after the first two games with only one point and knew it was a must-win game. We showed a lot of effort and a lot of heart,” he added.

My view: Newcastle pressing will cause real problems

This intensity has been seen throughout the Eddie Howe era.

Premier League clubs have seen it, and many have struggled to cope over the last two years.

Now, we are seeing Eddie Howe’s pressing play on the European stage, and Paris Saint-Germain certainly couldn’t cope

Dortmund just about managed to claim all three points but, on another night, Newcastle would have claimed another win.

Newcastle may not have all the big names right now, but they are so well-drilled and so aggressive with their pressing that they will cause problems for anybody.