Newcastle manager Eddie Howe believes his side’s huge Champions League win over Qarabag can act as a reminder of the level they are capable of reaching.
The Magpies produced a dominant display in Baku, thrashing the Azerbaijani champions 6-1 to take a commanding advantage into next week’s second leg at St James’ Park.
Either Barcelona or Chelsea await the winners in the next round.
Newcastle raced into a 5-0 lead by half-time, overwhelming their hosts in one of their most complete European performances in recent years.
Speaking afterwards, Howe said the result should reinforce belief inside the dressing room that this group of players can compete with the very best.
“My hope is that it just re-affirms our belief that we can be an outstanding team.
“When we’re at our very best, we can be a match for anybody. I’ve always maintained this season that we can be, it’s of course finding this level as much as we can, as consistently as we can.
“I think you could see the intense focus from the players was there from very early in the game and then we’ve got the quality when we’re in that kind of mood.
“It’s a really useful time for us to produce a display like this to hopefully just tell ourselves that we can be a top team again.”
Anthony Gordon was the star of the night, scoring four times. The forward had never previously registered a senior hat-trick but left the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium with his Champions League tally for the season up to 10 goals, surpassing the great Alan Shearer’s club record in the competition.
Further goals from Malick Thiaw and substitute Jacob Murphy completed the rout, while Elvin Jafarguliyev scored a late consolation for Qarabag, which is likely to matter little for the return trip to the North-East of England.
Despite his remarkable personal achievement, Gordon focused on the collective performance.
“The records are nice, of course, but football is about the team. Individual moments only matter if the team succeeds and tonight, that was the most important thing.
“I’m very proud, not just of myself, but of everyone involved. It’s never easy to come here, so I’m really happy for the whole group.”
There was a brief on-field disagreement before one of Newcastle’s penalties, with captain Kieran Trippier also keen to take responsibility, but Howe dismissed any suggestion of a problem.
“Anthony naturally wanted to take the second penalty and I understand why there’s a debate over it sometimes. That’s not clear when there are two in one game. But he took both penalties superbly and I’m pleased with that.
“Kieran’s only ever trying to help the team, so I think it’s a positive situation rather than negative.”
Newcastle will still approach the return leg with great care, particularly with Thiaw suspended after collecting a third booking of the campaign.
“Yes, we’ve had a good game today, but we take nothing for granted in the second leg”, Howe added.
Things do not slow down for the Magpies, who travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City at the weekend.
