Toon Army brought the passion and noise and then some, but Newcastle players warned not to make it their downfall

Newcastle’s clash against Borussia Dortmund delivered the expected brilliant atmosphere, but it’s been suggested the Magpies players let that get the better of them.

The German side snatched a 1-0 win to blow Champions League Group F wide open, despite the best part of 50,000 screaming Geordies willing their side to another famous European night.

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Newcastle is a city that lives and breathes football and St James’ Park is the cathedral.

It sits at the heart of Newcastle and dominates everything, and on a night like this, it’s very special.

Dortmund came over in their thousands and filled the upper tiers with their yellow and black.

They were loud, so, so, so loud.

Drums and chants throughout the whole match, and they were matched by the hoards of black and white shirts camped around the ground.

Chants for Dan Burn, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon poured from the stands as the Toon supporters looked to feed their side.

And before all that, there was a magical display from WorFlags.

Every single seat was covered in something before the match, and as the players came out, the stadium turned into a sea of black and white card.

At the Leazes End, the writing read ‘Howay The Lads’, and in the East Stand, the words ‘NUFC’ appeared. It was nothing short of sensational.

And it’s why no one wants to come to St James’ Park except Dortmund.

These supporters are legendary and proved why as they managed to match and sometimes out-sing the Toon support.

The rain poured down, but both sets of fans kept chanting, kept on pushing their sides on.

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It was a magical night under the lights at St James’ Park and one that will live long in the memory, not so much for the game, but for the deafening cacophony of sound that emanated from this cathedral on the hill for well over 100 minutes.

Newcastle have craved nights like these, and though they lost, the fans are making the most of them.

The stadium was near enough full 30 minutes before kick-off.

Thousands of people threw in half days or finished work early to ensure they made it to the ground in good time.

These are evenings that some Toon fans have never experienced, while others were an awful lot younger, so they aren’t wasting them.

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There was a moment in the second half, 1-0 down when the whole stadium exploded into a rendition of ‘Geordies’ to the tune of ‘Hey Jude’, it was spine-tingling.

However, talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara believes that the electric support got the better of the inexperienced Newcastle squad.

O’Hara said on The Sports Bar: “Watching that game, do you think some of these players get a little pumped up?

“We know St James’ Park is rocking, we know the fans are behind them, we know what it means to play in a Champions League game for Newcastle. But… when they go in for a tackle and they make this pump up gesture…

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“All right, we get it. You’re in the Champions League, have a bit of composure. They’re playing against top sides.

“Do you think they need to just rein it in a little bit? The players, have a bit of composure, a bit of know-how. You can exert too much energy when you’re that pumped up, you can knacker yourself out.”

He added: “Do you not think they need to calm down a little bit?”

For Dortmund, these are more regular nights, and Jason Cundy believes the Bundesliga giants had more focus on the task in hand than their opponents.

Cundy said: “St James’ Park, even though we know the atmosphere and how brilliant it can be… these guys play in front of this every single week.

“These are seasoned pros. This is what they do.”

And perhaps this was the difference between the two sides on the wet, Wednesday night.

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