Newcastle United produced the biggest Champions League shock last week, and they also boasted the competition’s fastest player.
Eddie Howe’s side stunned Europe on Wednesday, beating Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 at St James’ Park to go top of the alleged ‘group of death’.
It was a spectacular performance from the Magpies, with so many stories being written. There were goals from local lads Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff, as well as a wonder strike from Fabian Schar, who was not deemed good enough by the previous manager.
Elsewhere, we saw Jamaal Lascelles keep Kylian Mbappe quiet, while Bruno Guimaraes produced a man of the match display that saw him showered with praise by the French media.
So many Newcastle players had their own special moment in the Champions League against PSG, and now Sandro Tonali has one.
Sandro Tonali was the fastest player in the Champions League last week
The 23-year-old started in midfield alongside Bruno and Longstaff, and was particularly brilliant during the first half. It was the type of performance that we expect to see from Tonali on a consistent basis in the future.
However, the biggest surprise is that Tonali was actually the quickest player in the entire Champions League during the second round of fixtures.
No player ran faster than he did, with the Italian clocking in at 35.5km per hour. That put him ahead of Benfica’s David Neres, who was second with a speed of 35.4km per hour.
Tonali was also quicker than Kylian Mbappe, who was the sixth fastest player in gameweek two with a speed of 34.4km per hour.
He probably registered that speed when he was sulking off the pitch immediately after the final whistle!
But considering the speed that Newcastle possess and the other players in the competition, it is a real shock to see Tonali top of the pile. Well done, Sandro!
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