NO one said life in the Champions League was going to be easy. Having battled for a creditable draw in the San Siro and brushed aside Paris St Germain with contemptuous ease, Newcastle United were brought back down to earth somewhat by German giants Borussia Dortmund.

It is hardly a disgrace to lose to a side that are unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season, so it says much for how far Newcastle have come in the last couple of years that there was still a sense of disappointment as Felix Nmecha’s precise first-half finish proved decisive at a sodden St James’ Park. Having started last night’s game knowing a victory could take them tantalisingly close to the Champions League knockout stages, the Magpies ended the evening in third place in Group F, with a daunting trip to Dortmund coming up next.

They were undone by the speed and incisiveness of their opponents’ attacking last night, with Nick Pope having produced three superb early saves to keep the scoresheet blank before Nmecha slotted home Nico Schlotterbeck’s cross on the stroke of half-time.

Newcastle had their moments, with Callum Wilson firing a golden second-half opportunity straight at goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and glancing a header against the bar with three minutes remaining, but were unable to dictate the tempo of the game in the manner they have become accustomed to in their home games in the Premier League. Anthony Gordon also struck the woodwork in stoppage time, but compared to what Newcastle faced against Crystal Palace at the weekend, this was unquestionably a massive step up.

When Newcastle triumphed against Paris St Germain at the start of this month, the intensity of a European night at St James’ Park appeared to be too much for the Ligue 1 champions. Could the same thing be replicated against Borussia Dortmund? Not quite, despite the pre-match efforts of the Wor Flags group who have done so much to transform the pre-match atmosphere at St James’ Park.

As Newcastle will discover next month, Borussia Dortmund’s players are used to playing in front of their famous ‘Yellow Wall’ at Signal Iduna Park. For all that St James’ Park might have been bristling at kick-off, the visitors were never going to be knocked out of their stride.

Amid such a cacophonous atmosphere, the early action was always going to be frantic, and such was the frenzied nature of both sides’ attacking, it could easily have been 2-2 inside the opening 15 minutes.

Newcastle were indebted to Pope for keeping the scoresheet blank in the early stages, with the goalkeeper reprising the defensive saviour role that earned his side a point in the opening Champions League game in the San Siro.

Just two minutes had gone when he kept out Donyell Malen’s fiercely-hit shot with his legs, and eight minutes later, he was producing a remarkable double save when Dortmund twice looked certain to score. Pope’s first save denied Malen after Marcel Sabitzer had pulled the ball across the area from the left, while his second, which was an even better effort, enabled him to claw away a goal-bound follow-up effort from Niclas Fullkrug.

Dortmund were not the only side threatening early on, though, with Gordon firing in two decent efforts for Newcastle. Gregor Kobel saved both of them, although Gordon will perhaps feel he should have done better with the second strike given that Alexander Isak’s pinpoint through ball had released him into an inviting pocket of space on the left of the box.

That was to be Isak’s final involvement as, moments later, he was hobbling to the touchline to be replaced by Wilson after his injury jinx struck again. Having been unable to join up with Sweden during the last international break because of a muscular problem, the striker finds himself struggling once more.

His departure coincided with a slight lessening of the manic early tempo, with the game eventually settling into a more composed pattern of Dortmund attacking in numbers while Newcastle tended to be most threatening when they were able to spring forward on the break.

If anything, though, it was the visitors who were always the more threatening, with the Magpies’ defence stretched in a way it rarely is in the Premier League, and it came as no real surprise when the deadlock was broken in Dortmund’s favour on the stroke of half-time.

Again, it was the speed of the German side’s attacking move that proved Newcastle’s undoing, with Schlotterbeck winning the ball before breaking down the left to receive a return pass from Marco Reus. The centre-half squared the ball into the 18-yard box, and with the home side’s defenders desperately trying to plug gaps, an unmarked Nmecha produced a pinpoint finish as he slotted home from close to the penalty spot.

Trailing at the break, Newcastle needed a positive response, and it almost arrived at the start of the second half courtesy of Wilson. Newcastle’s number nine fashioned an instinctive flicked finish after a neat one-two with Gordon unpicked the Dortmund defence, but Kobel spread himself to produce a crucial save.

Newcastle threatened to build up a head of steam at various points of the second half, but Dortmund’s defending remained both disciplined and resolute. Whenever Wilson broke towards the 18-yard box, he was smothered by at least two covering defenders; whenever Bruno Guimaraes looked to spread the play, Dortmund’s full-backs forced Newcastle’s wingers out towards the touchline. As a result, it was a night when clear-cut opening proved hard to come by.

The hosts’ best opportunity for a leveller came with three minutes remaining, but ended with the ball striking the woodwork. Matt Targett swung in a free-kick from the left, and Wilson glanced a header against the crossbar.

Newcastle hit the woodwork again in stoppage time, with Gordon’s deflected strike cannoning off the underside of the bar. It was not to be their night.