Dan Burn shares what’s shocked him the most about playing in the Champions League this season

Add as preferred source on Google

Dan Burn has now revealed what shocked him the most about playing Champions League football during Newcastle United’s group stage games this season.

Newcastle earned their way back into the Champions League after two decades out of it, but Burn has claimed that it took a lot of adjusting to at the start of the season.

Burn was on Ben Foster’s podcast, Fozcast, explaining how he had found the tournament mentally draining and was in need of a break after the first run of games.

Burn was burnt out after Champions League run

Newcastle and their supporters weren’t ignorant to the fact that the added run of games was going to be difficult to cope with after so long out of Europe, but what hit them was still beyond their expectations.

Burn, who featured in four of Newcastle’s Champions League games, was blown away by the mental toll it took on him and his teammates.

Not only have the injuries been difficult to deal with through the course of this campaign, the mental fatigue has also certainly played its part in some results both domestically and abroad this season.

The defender now has a new admiration of those players at the very top who not only compete in the tournament every season, but are also experienced internationals.

On the podcast, Burn said: “Champions League has been crazy, but it’s everything you ever dream of.

“I think what you don’t appreciate is the mental toll that it takes on players. For Harry Kane to have played Champions League and international games for as long as he has, I do not know.

“They don’t get enough credit the lads who do it year after year. But we wanted this so I’m not knocking it, it’s been amazing.”

Newcastle are desperate to get back into Europe

Though it may have taken a toll on the players, Newcastle will be desperate to get back into the Champions League or even the Europa League after getting their first taste of European football in the modern era.

As part of their long-term project, the club are ahead of schedule, but the objectives will have changed after seeing the team compete with some of the best in the world.

The owners now know that Newcastle are capable of being in and amongst the likes of PSG and AC Milan, so now it’s a case of how much they’re willing to invest to take that next step into the knockout rounds.

FFP will of course pose a huge problem in January and the summer, but it’s an exciting time for Newcastle supporters who have waited so long for times like these.