Dortmund’s Toon win pivotal, says boss Terzic
NEWCASTLE United’s Champions League ‘Group of Death’ did prove to be the competition’s fiercest after two members of Group F, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, this week battled it out for a place in the final, with the latter emerging victorious.
The Magpies crashed out of the competition back in December, despite taking a point from AC Milan and four against PSG. Dortmund, however, beat Newcastle home and away to kickstart their journey – with manager Edin Terzic pinpointing the win over Eddie Howe’s side at Signal Iduna Park as the moment his team started to believe they could go far in the tournament.
“We knew we were going to have chances in that group of death but to be honest, maybe we were after the second game with only one points, and we hadn’t scored a goal,” Terzic told CBS Sports after Tuesday’s semi-final second leg win over PSG.
“Then we had our first great performance and win in Newcastle, a very tough game for us. And from that, we can see that maybe anything is possible.”
Newcastle won’t be battling it out in Europe’s premier competition next season but Howe is aiming to finish as high as possible with three games remaining. The hope is Newcastle can overcome a gruelling season to book a Europa League spot – a feat many believe would trump last season’s shock fourth-place finish given the vast amount of injuries in recent months.
Speaking to Gary Neville on the latest episode of Sky Bet’s The Overlap, Howe admits last season’s success took everyone at the club by surprise.
“For us, fourth was never in our eyes last year, it was a case of could we build from the previous season, first not to have a relegation battle on our hands and then grow the team forward,” Howe said. “When we hit fourth, it felt like we’d climbed so quickly and early – where do we go from here?
“For us, we’re hugely ambitious and never take a step back – can we improve, not necessarily our league position, but our general performance. At times we have and at times we haven’t this year, it’s been up and down. I think we’ve done OK – we have been consistent in our own way, and if we could maintain our position, then I think that’ll be a great season.”