Bruno Guimarães harnesses red mist to become Newcastle’s last man standing

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net.

Isak mischievously prodded Guimarães into singing the X-rated version of the Sandro Tonali song, even though the Brazilian had just promised Ant and Dec he wouldn’t swear, like a conniving elder brother pushing his unwitting younger sibling headfirst into trouble.

Like family.

Now the roles are reversed, with Isak having taken his ball home and Guimarães wearing the long trousers.



He spent the best part of the next four months indoors, away from friends and family, and emerged from it speaking excellent French, and as one of the team leaders as Lyon emerged from hibernation to reach the Champions League semi-finals.

When he left less than 18 months later to join an intended Newcastle revolution which was far from a sure thing Guimarães clicked with the city, and its fans, instantly.

“Both of my children are Geordies and it’s a privilege to be captain of this club and to wear the black and white shirt.”

View image in fullscreen

Yet this was almost a tentative Guimarães at the start, as Tonali sped around into challenges like a de facto Guimarães early on, like the real thing was stopping himself from being overexcited by the occasion.

After a spell of home pressure ratcheting up an already bubbling atmosphere – which might have led to tangible reward with a centre-forward of renown – Gravenberch’s against-the-tide opener came from a shot taken early with Guimarães electing to jockey rather than challenge, with the Dutch midfielder’s strike sliding past Nick Pope.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

Perhaps Anthony Gordon’s rush of blood to the head underlined the wisdom of this usually most effervescent of characters keeping his powder dry.

For later, it was Guimarães that brought Newcastle back into it, heading in to halve a 2-0 deficit when it was hard to see where a goal might come from, when even the crowd had dampened and stopped believing.