'Proud moment': Nick Woltemade speaks out after making Champions League debut from Newcastle United bench
You'll not find many Newcastle United fans who were happy about £69 million striker Nick Woltemade starting last night's crunch match against Barcelona on the bench.
The German striker had one goal in one appearance for Newcastle, heading into last night's match against Barcelona at St James' Park, and yet Eddie Howe opted to start Anthony Gordon, who has never scored while playing as a striker, as a centre-forward with Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga on the flanks.
Eddie Howe did bring Nick Woltemade on for his Champions League debut just after the hour mark, but that came after Barcelona had taken the lead and took a lot of the urgency out of the game.
Barcelona's second came soon after, and it took the Magpies a while to rally again, getting a goal back on 90 minutes. Too little, too late.
Nick Woltemade didn't complain about being dropped
Wotlemade addressed the game on Instagram and declared that he's looking forward to Sunday.
“On the big stage. Not the score we wanted, but proud moment for me personally. Now focus on Sunday.”
Anthony Gordon is unavailable for the game against Bournemouth, so we know Howe won't repeat that mistake on Sunday, and hopefully Nick Woltemade is restored to the starting lineup.
Eddie Howe likely regrets his choices last night
Newcastle know how hard it is to grind out results without a striker, which is why they were so desperate to sign two in the summer.
Going into such a big game without one last night was a bold move by Eddie Howe, and one that he would probably change in hindsight.
It's time to show some faith in the man the club spent £69 million on and let him do what he does.
