Eddie Howe urges Newcastle players to fulfill their potential after Champions League defeat

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe thinks his team is huge Champions League Defeating Qarabag can remind them of the level they are capable of reaching.

The Magpies produced a dominant display in Baku, beating the Azerbaijan champions 6-1 to take a commanding advantage in 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 at half-time, crushing their hosts in one of their most complete European performances in recent years.

Speaking afterwards, Howe said the result should reinforce the belief within the dressing room that this group of players can compete with the best.

“I hope it just reaffirms our belief that we can be an exceptional team.”

“When we are at our best we can be a match for anyone. I have always maintained this season that we can be, it is of course about finding that level as much as we can, as consistently as possible.

“I think you could see that the intense concentration of the players was there from the start of the match and we have the quality when we are in that kind of mood.

“It’s a really useful time for us to produce a show like this, hoping to tell ourselves that we can be a top team again.”

Anthony Gordon was the star of the evening, scoring four times. The striker had never scored a senior hat-trick before, but left the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium with a total of 10 Champions League goals for the season, surpassing 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 unlikely to matter for the return trip to the north-east of England.

Despite his remarkable personal accomplishment, Gordon focused on collective performance.

“Records are nice, of course, but football is about team. Individual moments only count 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 coming here, so I'm really happy for the whole group.”

There was a brief disagreement on the pitch 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 is sometimes a debate about that. It's not clear when there are two in a game. But he took both penalties superbly and I'm happy with that.

“Kieran is only trying to help the team, so I think it’s a positive situation rather than a negative one.”

Newcastle will still approach the second leg with an abundance of caution, especially with Thiaw suspended after receiving a third booking of the campaign.

“Yes, we had a good game today, but we're not taking anything for granted in the second leg,” added Howe.

Things aren't slowing down for the Magpies, who travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City this weekend.