Former England international Danny Murphy was blown away by the performances of Newcastle United youngsters Lewis Miley and Tino Livramento during their Champions League draw at Paris Saint-Germain.
If you were to combine the relative ages of Lewis Miley and Tino Livramento, you’d get one James Milner.
But if there were any concerns that a lack of experience would cost Newcastle United in the French capital, those doubts were immediately dispelled as Miley and Livramento went about their business like seasoned veterans with a century of Champions League appearances under their belt.
Youngsters shine as Newcastle scare PSG
“(Miley was) very good,” Murphy, once of Liverpool, Tottenham and Fulham, tells talkSPORT of the 17-year-old midfielder (29 November, 11.30am).
“Super disciplined. My God, he’s got a big future. But Livramento was the stand out for me.”
A £40 million signing from Southampton over the summer, Livramento found himself playing out of position in Paris while going head-to-head with Ousmane Dembele, a player PSG boss Luis Enrique described as the ‘best in the world’ at unbalancing opposition defenders before the game.
Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to Livramento, then, is that the 21-year-old barely gave Dembele a sniff, a disciplined and diligent performance only undermined by a scandalous decision to penalise him for a so-called ‘handball’ at the death.
Kylian Mbappe’s 98nd minute spot-kick – not even Nick Pope could pull off a miracle this time around – snatched two invaluable points out of Eddie Howe’s grasp, and delivered a major blow to Newcastle’s hopes of securing knockout stage football in the New Year.
Qualification still on the cards
Newcastle are third in the so-called ‘Group of Death’. To overtake PSG into second, they need Enrique’s side to lose at Dortmund while defeating an inconsistent AC Milan at St James’ Park.
It’s not impossible. Nor improbable, even. But Newcastle’s life has certainly been made that bit harder by a VAR call which had many an observer mourning the ‘death of football’ in the ‘Group of Death’.
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