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<\/p>\nEddie Howe celebrates Newcastle\u2019s return to the Champions League last season <\/p>\n
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As the final whistle blew, cementing a season of overachievement, Newcastle United\u2019s fans were singing a version of a favourite chant, with the lyrics customised as their horizons broadened. \u201cTell me ma\u201d often contains the assertion that \u201cwe\u2019re going to Wembley,\u201d even if the Carabao Cup final was actually Newcastle\u2019s first trip to the national stadium in the 21st century. But as Nick Pope\u2019s late save secured a draw against Leicester to clinch a top-four finish, the destination was changed. \u201cWe\u2019re going to Italy,\u201d they chorused; sooner than they thought, perhaps.<\/p>\n
Newcastle\u2019s first Champions League game in two decades is at San Siro, against the seven-time champions of the continent, AC Milan. It does not necessarily render them underdogs: not when Newcastle had the financial muscle to sign Sandro Tonali, the Rossoneri <\/em>fan who was seen as future club captain, this summer. The picture can be clouded both on and off the pitch: Stefano Pioli\u2019s team were Champions League semi-finalists last season but lost the Milan derby 5-1 to Inter on Saturday.<\/p>\n With Newcastle, the footballing feats came after the takeover by Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund. The morality of the ownership can be questioned. The money has helped, with around \u00a3400m committed in transfer fees. It meant they ended up funding Milan\u2019s summer rebuilding \u2013 selling Tonali in effect paid for the purchases of Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah \u2013 but if Newcastle have still had to be bargain hunters, that is the Rossoneri\u2019s <\/em>role now. With the days of Silvio Berlusconi\u2019s largesse consigned to the past, Milan mirrored Newcastle in one respect last season: they confounded expectations to get into the top four, but of the Champions League.<\/p>\n But for a fanbase deprived of any continental trips since Alan Pardew\u2019s Newcastle reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2013, a 20-year wait to return to the major competition is tantalising. Newcastle supporters are renowned for travelling in their numbers, but it was notable that Milan hotel prices skyrocketed for Tuesday: anyone booking late would have had to pay at least \u00a3400 a night.<\/p>\n The iconic San Siro has a symbolic significance that stretches beyond its architecture. Newcastle\u2019s last Champions League away game \u2013 excluding a play-off against Partizan Belgrade that they lost on penalties at home \u2013 was in Milan, a 2-2 draw against Inter in 2003. Alan Shearer scored twice; Newcastle\u2019s record goalscorer is now 53 and narrating Amazon documentaries about the modern side.<\/p>\n Alan Shearer was on target the last time Newcastle were in Milan <\/p>\n When, about three-quarters of an hour after the final whistle blew in the 0-0 draw against Leicester, Eddie Howe was asked about his memories of Newcastle\u2019s Champions League past, he was a little hazy. A focus on the present meant he had not spent much time studying the history. He recalled Tino Asprilla\u2019s hat-trick against Barcelona in 1997 but not Craig Bellamy\u2019s injury-time winner against Feyenoord in 2002 when, after Newcastle had lost their first three group games, they won the last three to progress.<\/p>\n There was often a romance to Newcastle in the Champions League. There has been to Howe\u2019s rise, too. He took charge of a Bournemouth team 91st in the Football League and suffering from a 17-point deduction. He had more reason to watch non-league than Champions League games then. His 625th match as a manager will be his first in Europe.<\/p>\n There is no soft baptism. Newcastle\u2019s continental exile meant they were in pot four for the draw; to compound their difficulties, they were pitted against arguably the finest team, and definitely the most storied club, in pot three, in AC Milan. Factor in Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund and looks the toughest and perhaps most intriguing group, a four-team rebuttal to the theory the first stage is just a procession. Even as Newcastle look to become regulars on this stage, they could be cast aside before Christmas this season.<\/p>\n Newcastle begin the next phase of their progress as they return to Europe <\/p>\n Newcastle have the Premier League\u2019s fiscal might and the ambition. They lack the experience and Champions League nous. Kieran Trippier played in the final for Tottenham and Bruno Guimaraes bullishly declared last season: \u201cI was born to play Champions League\u201d. But the Brazilian is one of a number of players \u2013 including Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes \u2013 with a handful of appearances in the competition. Many another \u2013 Nick Pope, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Anthony Gordon \u2013 has never featured in it. Dan Burn\u2019s Champions League pedigree consists of being in the crowd as a season ticket-holder when Andy Griffin scored a winner for Bobby Robson\u2019s side against Juventus.<\/p>\n There are personal success stories at a club who have taken on a different hue. Newcastle stand for different things to different people. For the thousands in San Siro, however, they are a club who are back.<\/p>\nRecommended<\/h3>\n
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