… and after that impressively measured take, it’s a wrap. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
A philosophical Eddie Howe speaks to TNT. “We gave everything … I couldn’t ask any more from the players … commitment, effort, physical exertion … unfortunately it wasn’t to be … there were some really good bits … we were dominant at times though probably needed the second goal … we didn’t defend the goals well enough … both teams were desperate to win and we embraced that … it wasn’t our best technical performance … we are absolutely devastated not to go through … it would be foolish of me to look back at [the controversial Livramento handball penalty decision against PSG] and start bringing back old stuff … we had the opportunity tonight to do what we needed to do and didn’t take it … we have a very stretched squad and I couldn’t be prouder … we’ve left everything on the pitch … we can’t have any regrets … we’ll learn from it … always you have to use disappointment and failure as motivation, a learning tool and fuel for your fire.”
Louise Taylor meanwhile was at St James’ Park. Here’s her take on the abrupt end of the Toon’s European adventure.
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 PSG. Jonathan Liew was in Dortmund to witness PSG do just enough to make it into the knockouts. Here’s his report.
Milan cavort, while Eddie Howe looks suitably grim-faced. Newcastle were in the box seat for the best part of an hour, but news of Dortmund’s opening goal, followed by PSG’s quick-fire equaliser, seemed to spook everyone inside St James’ Park and give Milan a sense of opportunity. The Rossoneri grabbed it with both hands. Perhaps it would have been different had Mike Maignan not spectacularly tipped Bruno Guimarães’s shot onto the bar, but Milan were the better side in the second half and were good value for their comeback victory in the end. Heartbreak for the Toon, though you can be sure there won’t be another 20-year wait before they take their next pop at the Champions League.
Updated
There’s a brief stramash as the whistle goes. A few heads gone. Schar is booked. It all calms down quickly enough. Meanwhile it’s also all over in Dortmund, where the hosts did Newcastle a favour by holding PSG to a draw … but Eddie Howe’s side couldn’t take advantage. Dortmund and PSG make it to the knockouts, while Milan drop into the Europa League. Newcastle put their passports away for the season.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 6 | -3 | 8 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 6 | -1 | 5 |
FULL TIME: Newcastle 1-2 Milan
The whistle goes and Newcastle crash out of Europe altogether.
90 min +4: Another Milan counter, three on one this time. Jovic rolls the ball to Tomori on the right. Tomori creams a shot across Dubravka … and off the base of the left-hand post! Another big chance to wrap it up missed.
90 min +3: … Milan clear and counter! Hernandez and Chukwueze are two on one, and there’s no keeper! Hernandez should pass to Chukwueze, but rolls goalwards from 50 yards himself. It’s a weak effort and missing to the right.
90 min +2: Guimarães sends Joelinton into space down the left with a glorious crossfield pass. Joelinton feeds Burn on the overlap. Burn drives into the box for a corner. Up comes Dúbravka and …
90 min +1: The ball’s in Maignan’s hands. He’s not rushing to bowl it out.
90 min: Florenzi is booked for a cynical tug on Almiron. There will be four minutes. Can Newcastle find an equaliser that’d earn them the consolation prize of a spot in the Europa League?
89 min: Guimarães dribbles hard down the right but runs out of space. Goal kick. He cocks his head back in disappointment, before trudging back upfield. Newcastle haven’t been the same since hearing of that deflating PSG equaliser.
88 min: The 17-year-old Davide Bartesaghi comes on for his Champions League debut. He replaces Leao. What a time to throw on a teenage debutant!
87 min: Milan nearly get a third. Leao barrels down the left. He slips infield for Jovic, who aims a first-time drive towards the bottom right. Burn does exceptionally well to block.
86 min: Unless Newcastle can find a goal, they won’t be playing European football in the new year.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 6 | -3 | 8 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 6 | -1 | 5 |
GOAL! Newcastle 1-2 Milan (Chukwueze 84)
All of the subs combine to give Milan the lead! Jović bursts down the middle. He lays off to Okafor, who rolls Chukwueze in down the inside-right channel. With his first touch, Chukwueze whips a shot across Dubravka and in! Heartbreak for Newcastle.
Updated
83 min: Milan make a double change, sending on Okafor and Chukwueze for Giroud and Musah.
82 min: A free kick for Milan now. Florenzi curls it in from the left and earns a corner. Florenzi and Reijnders take it quickly and play it short, and Newcastle are very lucky that the latter takes a poor touch as he strides into the box and can’t get a good shot away.
81 min: Musah almost rugby tackles an in-flight Isak. He’s booked. A free kick in a central position, 30 yards out. Newcastle waste it. A gentle float into the box that’s easy for Maignan to pluck from the sky.
79 min: Leao is this close to putting an end to Newcastle’s dream! He tears clear down the inside left, reaches the box, gives Dubravka the eyes … and whistles a daisycutter towards the bottom left, only to watch in disbelief as it cannons off the base of the post and away!
Updated
77 min: Livramento fizzes a cross through the Milan box from the right. Wilson can’t connect. Then Jović is booked for hauling back Schar. This is getting gloriously scrappy.
76 min: Calabria is fine to continue. Meanwhile in Dortmund, Kylian Mbappé has had a goal disallowed. Tense nervous headache?
75 min: Joelinton has been booked for swinging a hand in the vague environs of an opponent’s grid. Meanwhile Schar slips and clatters into Calabria, and the Milan captain felt that. On comes the trainer.
74 min: The first-half possession stats were 59-41 in Newcastle’s favour. Milan have a 58-42 advantage in this second period.
72 min: Milan make a double change. Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic make way for Pobega and Jović.
71 min: Miley makes way for Longstaff.
70 min: Guimarães and Almiron combine crisply down the inside-right channel but can’t find the killer final ball. Both teams need a win, and so this game has opened up like a flower.
69 min: Isak probes down the left. He cuts back for Guimarães, who takes a touch before unleashing a fierce rising drive towards the top right. Maignan turns the ball onto the crossbar and away. So close to turning the tie back in Newcastle’s favour!
67 min: Isak cuts in from the left and tries to make something happen. He aims a curler towards the top left. It’s always heading over the bar … though it took a deflection. However there’s to be no corner. Isak is livid.
66 min: Leao comes again down the left and wins a corner. It’s sent in, and Hernández goes over under very light pressure from behind by Guimarães. He wants a spot kick but the referee’s not having a bar of it. Newcastle are suddenly jittery, though, and Milan can sense a chance to take control.
64 min: Leao sashays into the Newcastle box from the left. Schar slides in recklessly. Leao stays honest and continues to dribble towards the byline before eventually losing control. Had the Milan winger gone to ground over Schar’s leg, the referee would surely have awarded a penalty. Lucky Schar.
63 min: Newcastle need another goal now, and so Eddie Howe sends on Isak for Wilson. Trippier meanwhile makes way for Burn; Livramento moves from left to right-back.
62 min: … but it’s not yet all over. Miley crosses deep from the right and Maignan flaps. Wilson tries to poke home with an extended leg but can only guide the ball wide left.
Updated
61 min: It’s suddenly all gone wrong for Newcastle. What a very weird ten minutes.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 6 | -4 | 6 |
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Milan (Pulisic 59)
Milan feed off the sudden anxiety in St James’ Park. Reijnders wins a corner down the right. Newcastle only half clear it. Musah feeds Leao down the left. He cuts back. Tomori swings a peg on the penalty spot. He doesn’t connect properly, but the ball squirts to Giroud, just to the left of goal. He rolls across to Pulisic, who sweeps home from six yards. How quickly everything changes.
Updated
57 min: That PSG equaliser has muted the St James’ roar somewhat. Of course Newcastle are still in the box seat.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 6 | -5 | 5 |
56 min: The corner’s played short, then pulled back for Almiron … who takes a fresh-air swipe from 12 yards. Nicely worked, shame about the finish.
55 min: Warren Zaire Emery has levelled things up for PSG in Dortmund. It’s going to be a long second half. Meanwhile in the north-east of England, Gordon skedaddles down the left flank and earns a corner. Newcastle load the Milan box.
54 min: Trippier falls awkwardly and looks to have hurt his hip. Play stops awhile. The bedlam in the stands does not.
53 min: … so if Newcastle hold onto their lead, PSG will now have to score twice to deny them second spot.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 | Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | PSG | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 6 | -5 | 5 |
52 min: Wilson has a whack from distance. Straight at Maignan. But St James’ Park erupts anyway, because Karim Adeyemi has given Borussia Dortmund the lead against PSG!
51 min: Gordon takes a whack from the right-hand side of the Milan D. Falling backwards, he hoicks over. Maignan had it covered.
50 min: Leao tries to get something going for Milan with a probe down the left. But when he reaches the box there’s nobody to find in the middle and the move breaks down.
48 min: Newcastle are first to everything right now. Reijnders hovers around, waiting to take receipt of a simple pass. Joelinton nips in to steal and set Gordon off down the left. Nothing comes of the attack, but there’s the reason Newcastle are leading this game. They simply seem to want it more. Milan are strangely passive.
46 min: Joelinton battles for a long ball on the edge of the Milan D. He can’t quite control, but it breaks to Wilson, who shapes a shot towards goal. An attempt to curl towards the top left flies straight into Maignan’s belly. The keeper a lot calmer than he was just before the break.
Newcastle get the second half underway. No changes.
Mancunian-infused half-time entertainment. David Hytner picks the bones of Manchester United’s dismal campaign …
… while Jamie Jackson reports on Manchester City’s earlier win in Belgrade, where yet another star from the City academy was born.
HALF TIME: Newcastle 1-0 Milan
Joelinton’s screamer means that, as things stand, Newcastle will qualify for the knockout stage. It’s goalless at the break in Dortmund.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 6 | -5 | 5 |
45 min +1: At the corner, Maignan is flattened by Joelinton. The whistle goes for a free kick, but the keeper’s not happy and asks the referee to hand out coloured-carded-based punishment. The ref does, but to Maignan for his ludicrous over-reaction.
45 min: Wilson harries and hassles and wins the ball on the halfway line. He barrels down the left but can’t get a shot away. The play’s switched to the left, where Trippier and Almiron combine to win a corner. Before it can be taken, Musah and Wilson are rollocked twice by the referee for wrestling. There will be two added minutes.
43 min: Musah plays a ball down the inside-left channel to … nobody. Milan have been pretty clueless in attack tonight.
42 min: Trippier sends the resulting free kick into the box from the right. Joelinton heads the ball straight up into the air. Nobody’s perfect, and he’s got plenty of credit in the bank this evening.
41 min: Miley wins a corner down the right. Trippier takes. Giroud heads clear. Leao tries to get ahead of Almiron to start a counter, and plants the point of his elbow on the Newcastle player’s lug. Ooyah oof. That’ll smart. Leao goes into the book.
39 min: Miley takes a silky touch down the right and draws a foul from Musah. Miley is 17. A free kick to the side of the box. Danger for Milan … but it comes to nothing. Milan break upfield through Leao, but he can’t beat Livramento in a footrace. Livramento is 21. The future’s bright for Newcastle.
37 min: As things stand, the Toon are going through.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | PSG | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 6 | -5 | 5 |
35 min: Milan attempt to hit back immediately by humping a free kick into the mixer. There’s a brief game of head tennis. Miley puts a stop to it by clearing Newcastle’s lines. This place is bouncing.
WHAT A GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Milan (Joelinton 33)
This is an absolute belter. Gordon drifts in from the left and considers shooting. Instead, he rolls towards Miley on the right-hand corner of the box. Miley rolls it back inside for Joelinton, who from the edge of the box gives the ball a little tickle before sending a rising screamer into the top left. Maignan, at full stretch, had no chance whatsoever! St James’ Park goes one louder.
Updated
32 min: Bruno Guimarães waves his arms around to get the crowd going. It’s not as though St James’ Park had fallen silent, but the fans find a way to go up to 11.
30 min: Newcastle are nearly undone by a simple long punt down the middle. Musah threatens to bustle clear, but Lascelles stands firm to eventually shut the door.
29 min: Miley and Guimarães nearly execute a defence-opening one-two down the right, but Florenzi fights to get back into position and usher the ball out for a goal kick. Fine play all round.
27 min: Reijnders slides and flips Livramento into the air like a fried egg. It could easily have been a booking but the referee looks to be in a laissez-faire mood tonight.
25 min: Joelinton whips in a cross from the right. Almiron guides a header towards the top right but it’s too close to Maignan, who claims without fuss. Meanwhile it’s still goalless in the other game. Michael Butler has the latest.
Updated
24 min: Now it’s Milan’s turn to pass up a big chance. Musah bursts into space down the middle and slips Leao into the box down the left channel. Leao opens up his body with only Dubravka to beat … but curls an effort meant for the top-right corner miles wide.
22 min: Eddie Howe holds his head in his hands. He knows what a huge chance that was. Why did Almiron not just immediately ram that home? Take nothing away from Tomori’s intervention, mind. What looked a certain goal denied.
20 min: Joelinton drives into the Milan box from the right. He draws Maignan and rolls across for Almiron, who prepares to tap home from a couple of yards. But he waits to go with his left rather than his right, and Tomori is able to stick out a boot and sensationally block. The ball squirts out for a corner, from which nothing comes. That’s as brilliant by Tomori as his earlier slice was comedic.
Updated
19 min: Milan aren’t doing much in attack. Leao crosses from the left but the ball’s easily cleared by Livramento. “I just went back and watched the video again,” writes Dida obsessive Chris Paraskevas. “They got the stretcher out for him! The Dark Arts ain’t what they used to be.”
18 min: Space for Schar, in a pocket 30 yards out. He opens his body and attempts to steer into the top-right corner. Always heading over.
16 min: Gordon tries to one-two with Livramento down the inside-left channel but Calabria is having none of it and intercepts on the edge of the Milan box. That’s fine defending that puts paid to a promising attack.
14 min: Some pinball in the Milan box. Joelinton just about sorts his feet out to get a shot away. It bobbles through to Maignan. This is fast and frantic, but not particularly finessed.
Updated
13 min: Joelinton romps towards the Milan box only to be dispossessed brilliantly by Loftus-Cheek. Milan counter through Leao, who slips the ball wide right for Pulisic. He enters the box before slicing a shot-cum-cross out for a goal kick. With Leao in the centre, he should have done better.
12 min: Almiron intercepts in the centre circle and sends Gordon away down the left. The ball’s shuttled infield to Joelinton, who takes the first shot in anger tonight from 30 yards. It deflects wide right, and Maignan races across to stop the ball going out for a corner.
11 min: Newcastle faff around at the back and Dubravka eventually shanks a pass out of play. Then Florenzi crashes into Almiron and earns a taking-to from the referee. It’s a bit scrappy now.
9 min: Lascelles challenges Giroud from behind on the halfway line. He pops his elbow on the back of the striker’s head. Giroud goes over holding it, and rolling around quite a lot. The referee tells them both to get a grip. Then Musah skittles Miley. Suddenly a bit of edge to the game. So much on the line for both sides, after all.
7 min: It’s a fast start by Newcastle. Milan are struggling to string anything together.
5 min: Gordon cuts infield and is hauled down by Pulisic. A free kick, 30 yards out. Trippier, who has been out of sorts lately, takes it and nearly plants it into the top left. Just wide, just over. That should make him feel better after those dodgy outings against Everton and Spurs.
Updated
3 min: Almiron curls in a cross from the right. Tomori flashes a leg at the ball to clear, only to slice it horribly over his own head and send it looping towards the top left. Maignan gets back to claim, but only just. Discombobulated, he clatters into Wilson and falls over. Nothing as preposterous as Dida v Wee Ned (2007), Chris Paraskevas will be pleased to hear.
2 min: One hell of an atmosphere at St James’ Park tonight. Like that’s news worth flashing. The home fans celebrate a Gordon block-tackle like a goal. Gordon responds with a COME ON! The place is buzzing.
Milan get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Gallowgate in this first half.
The teams are out! Newcastle are in their famous black and white stripes, while Milan sport a wild pink, purple and blue number that “celebrates the culture of inclusivity and diversity that has been at the heart of AC Milan since day one”, which seems fair enough. We’ll be howay in a minute.
Updated
Pre-match postbag. “Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud… so AC is short for After Chelsea now and Milan is where the Pensioners get pensioned off to?” – Justin Kavanagh
“ACM: Alumni of Chelsea in Milan” – Peter Oh
“I can still remember the great Milan players of old: Nesta, Maldini, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Shevchenko. That lineup for the UCL final against Liverpool is still insane. But for me the endearing image of the club in the 21st Century is Dida going down against Celtic. Simulation is one thing: but the way Dida crumpled in a heap that night at Parkhead was high art. I haven’t seen such blind commitment to a performance since Sylvester Stallone in Escape To Victory. Having said that, it still has nothing on the Bowyer-Dyer fight: Newcastle do public meltdowns so much better (hopefully we avoid another one tonight)” – Chris Paraskevas
Do you remember the 19th night of September? Here’s how the reverse fixture at San Siro panned out as Newcastle returned to the Champions League after a 20-year hiatus and immediately started chasin’ the clouds away (ba-de-ya).
Eddie Howe talks to TNT Sports. “Excited about today … what an arena … the atmosphere will be rocking … we’re delighted to get Callum Wilson back, and Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff … it gives everyone confidence, not just the playing ability but the leadership skills they bring in the changing room … you’re stronger together and we’ve got a bit back … when you look at Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley and how they’ve responded, we’ve almost gained two extra players to our squad that we can depend on … Lewis starts again and deserves to, he’s been magnificent … when we play here the start of the game is crucial … we have to give the fans something early on to get into … we want to keep our European campaign going … I won’t want to know about [the other scoreline in the group] until I need to know about it … tunnel vision.”
The state of play. Here’s how Group F looks before tonight’s final matches.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | PSG | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | AC Milan | 5 | -4 | 5 |
Borussia Dortmund have already qualified for the knockout stage, while PSG are assured of Europa League action at the very least
PSG will qualify if they win in Dortmund
Newcastle can only qualify if they win and PSG fail to beat Dortmund
Milan can only qualify if they beat Newcastle and PSG lose
A draw at St James’ Park tonight would guarantee Newcastle a place in the Europa League in the new year
Newcastle make just one change to their starting XI in the wake of the 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Callum Wilson replaces the out-of-sorts Alexander Isak, who drops to the bench. Martin Dúbravka has recovered from his reported back and shoulder problems so there’s been no need to call up Loris Karius. Dan Burn meanwhile returns from injury though he doesn’t dislodge his impressive stand-in Tino Livramento; he’s named as a sub.
The teams
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento, Miley, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Gordon.
Subs: Dummett, Isak, Karius, Hall, Burn, Longstaff, Harrison.
AC Milan: Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Hernandez, Florenzi, Reijnders, Musah, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao, Giroud.
Subs: Adli, Jovic, Okafor, Chukwueze, Pobega, Krunic, Nava, Traore, Mirante, Bartesaghi, Nsiala-Makengo.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).
HOWAY THE LADS! 💪#NEWACM // #NUFC pic.twitter.com/IscMlgrWLN
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) December 13, 2023
🚨 Team news! 🚨#NEWACM #UCL #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/O9Lx0InpFL
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 13, 2023
Updated
Preamble
Arsenal: through. Manchester City: through. Manchester United: out. Will Newcastle United make it three out of four for the Premier League? They’ll need to beat the seven-time winners Milan tonight, and hope Paris Saint-Germain fail to win in Dortmund. “We will try everything,” says Eddie Howe. “It would be an incredible achievement.” Kick off at St James’ Park is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
