After a 20-year absence, Newcastle united will make their return to the UEFA Champions League with a trip to the famous San Siro to take on AC Milan on Tuesday night.
The Magpies, who are in arguably the group of death with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Milan secured qualification after having finished fourth on the Premier League log last season.
On Tuesday, they face a Milan side who were eliminated at the semi-final stage last season by their city rivals Inter Milan.
Newcastle head into this game after having secured a hard-fought 1-0 league victory over Brentford via the weekend, while Milan suffered a 5-1 elimination to Inter in the Serie A, so they will be seeking amends.
Team News
AC Milan will be without Pierre Kalulu (thigh) and Ismael Bennacer (Knee), but will welcome back Fikayo Tomori, who was suspended for Milan in the Weekend loss.
For Newcastle, they will be without Joel Willock (calf) and Emil Krafth ( Knee) while Joelinton is also doubtful for this game due to a knee injury he picked up while playing for Brazil.
On a good note, Sandro Tonali is expected to make a swift return from an injury for Newcastle and will play against his former paymaster.
Match Stats
Milan are old timers at this competition, with this being their 20th campaign in the competition overall, the second most of any Italian side after Juventus (23).
Newcastle’s 20 years and 184 days between Champions League outings is the longest gap for an English side in the competition after having last featured in this competition in 2003.
Only once in their past 14 Champions League campaigns have AC Milan failed to get past the first-round group stage, though they were also drawn into a group with an English team that year (Liverpool in 2021-22).
The Rossoneri have won their last two games in the group stage in the Champions League and will be looking to win three in a row for the first time since September 2006 under Carlo Ancelotti.
Newcastle lost their first three group games in their last appearance in the Champions League in 2002-03, becoming the first team to do so but still progress to the next round, with Atalanta in 2019-20 the only side to have achieved this since.
Only Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior (47) made more successful take-ons in the Champions League last season than Raphael Leão (39), while the Portugal winger had both the most expected goals (1.2) and expected assists (1.2) following take-ons of any player in the competition last term.
What was said by both managers
While addressing the media on Monday evening, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said it’s a proud moment for everyone at the club to play in the UCL.
“I’ve never attended a UCL game” Howe said before “I’ve also been too busy working! It will be a proud moment for everyone after so long away. We have to be at our best.”
“We want to do as well as we can. We want to be very competitive. We want to show our style of play. First and foremost the competitive nature in our game HAS to be there.”
While Stefano Pioli said he is excited to meet Tonali again
“Newcastle are the classic English team: intense, aggressive, physical, but also highlighting their technical quality. It’ll be exciting to meet back up with Tonali, as it will for him to see AC Milan again. Sandro was very important in our growth, which took us to the title, so we’ll receive him with great affection.”
Predicted lineups
AC Milan:Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Hernandez; Pobega, Krunic, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Giroud, Leao
Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Tonali, Guimaraes; Gordon, Isak, Barnes
