The gloom of the London Stadium was soon forgotten. Newcastle may have been abject on Sunday, but in a run of six wins in eight games, one aberration is perhaps permissible. This was a third straight Champions League success, all without conceding, and Eddie Howe’s side can now look forward to the playoff round at least, perhaps even a top-eight place and automatic passage to the last 16. Quite apart from anything else, they are bigger than most opponents they face in Europe and that, ultimately, was what underlay their victory over Athletic.

This Newcastle are a team with an extremely high ceiling and a very low floor. They are capable of winning five out of six as they did between hammering Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium and outplaying Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. But they are also capable of performances like the abject display they produced in losing 3-1 to West Ham on Sunday. They are both the amiable doctor and the vicious criminal, both ferociously energetic winners and lethargic disappointments, both Jekyll and Hyde.

Part of the issue, perhaps, is that Newcastle are a side whose approach is so rooted in energy that the slightest drop in tempo...