EUR LOSS
Newcastle 1 AC Milan 2: Devastated Toon crash out of Europe as Italians fight from a goal down to break Geordie hearts
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IN the end, all the money in Saudi Arabia and all the passion of the Geordie Nation was not enough.
Newcastle United, seemingly coasting to victory after Joelinton had thumped them into a half-time lead, were dumped out of Europe by a stunning AC Milan comeback.
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The Champions League demands elite-level wisdom and experience and that is the one thing Newcastle’s owners cannot buy.
It took Manchester City three attempts to get through the group stage and more than a decade to win the thing. There are no short cuts in this competition.
Milan, seven-time European champions and semi-finalists last season, used every bit of their nous to deny Eddie Howe’s side even a consolation spot in the Europa League, as Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze fired them to victory.
Newcastle needed to win this match and hope Paris St Germain did not defeat Borussia Dortmund in order to progress to the Champions League knock-out stage.
And early in the second half, a full-throated Toon Army were bellowing ‘Show Me The Way To Barcelona’, with both matches in their favour.
So Milan’s smash-and-grab job was an almighty kick in the conkers for Howe, already reeling from heavy Premier League defeats by Everton and Tottenham.
Newcastle can look back on this campaign with a mixture of pride and regret but it will be a tough ask for them to return to the top table next season thanks to their dismal away form.
In a proper Group of Death, Toon were twice outstanding against PSG but twice outplayed by Dortmund, having survived an onslaught to secure a goalless draw in the San Siro in their opener, only to be struck by a sucker punch here.
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Martin Dubravka was passed fit to start in goal, while Callum Wilson returned to lead the line.
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Milan fielded their full complement of Chelsea old boys - Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud.
And they came dressed in the single worst kit ever seen at a major English football ground - a pink, green and blue number that looked like a bubblegum wrapper designed by somebody on a bad acid trip.
Anthony Gordon made his usual energetic start, charging down his full-back to concede a throw-in and send the Leazes End into rapture.
Soon Gordon was upended by Pulisic and Kieran Trippier curled a free-kick just wide.
Trippier was soon surging forward and feeding Joelinton, whose centre evaded keeper Mike Maignan, leaving Tomori to make an outstanding saving tackle to deny Miguel Almiron on the goal line.
It was all there for Howe - the tempo, the intent, the volume of the Toon Army.
But Milan held a threat, especially through their dangerman Rafael Leao, who looped a shot narrowly wide as Newcastle were caught on the hop.
On 33 minutes, though, Newcastle were ahead - Fabian Schar bringing the ball out of defence, Gordon scampering forward and angling a pass to Lewis Miley, who cut back for Joelinton.
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The big Brazilian took one touch then thumped into the far corner from 18 yards, shooting with a power which belied his relative lack of backlift.
Joelinton had been renowned for missing sitters in his previous life as a striker in pre-Saudi Newcastle, but here he was scoring a screamer in the Champions League from midfield.
Tino Livramento halted a Milan break with a tackle on Leao. The full-back has name which sounds especially pleasing in a Geordie accent and it was roared to the tune of the Hokey-Cokey.
By half-time, Howe’s boys seemed fully in control, simply hoping that Dortmund could keep Kylian Mbappe & Co at bay.
Soon after the interval, St James’ Park erupted at news that the Germans had scored - yet PSG swiftly levelled.
And then disaster struck the Toon, as a Yunus Musah miskick turned into a decent pass for Giroud who squared for Pulisic to score, with the home defence panicked and static.
It was a horribly soft goal to concede to a Milan side who hadn’t registered a shot on target and had barely threatened until then.
Howe sent on Alexander Isak in place of Gordon and welcomed back Dan Burn from injury.
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Newcastle swept forward and Isak bent a shot just over, the night air crackling with agonised cries.
Then Bruno Guimaraes leathered a shot from the edge of the area and Maignan pushed it brilliantly onto the crossbar, as news of a disallowed Mbappe goal emerged from Dortmund.
Leao should have buried Newcastle when a Livramento blunder allowed him a clear sight at goal but the winger shot against the post.
Everything, both here and in Germany, was on a knife edge - why on Earth have UEFA chosen to scrap the group stage is anybody’s guess.
But then anyone who has ever attended a UEFA will know full well the European governing body’s staggering incompetence.
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Six minutes from time, with the game resembling an NBA match, Milan swept from one end of the pitch to the other and Chukwueze drilled into the far corner, finally demolishing the wall of noise.
Tomori struck the woodwork in injury-time as Newcastle went death-or-glory and ended up expiring.
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