The chants only grew louder as the end neared. “We love Newcastle, we do!” the defiant home support sang at St James’ Park. Newcastle United’s European adventure was about to come to an end, following a painful 2-1 defeat against AC Milan, yet you would not have known it.
That response did not go unnoticed. Geordies had waited 20 long years to experience these magical nights again in the Champions League and Eddie Howe’s team left the field ‘fuelled’ by a desire to take them back to the top table.
“The ambition is there, of course,” the Newcastle boss told reporters. “The ambition is there from all of us, but it doesn’t mean it will happen.
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“We have to make that happen. We had an unbelievable season last year to create that and I do feel forces have been against us this season.
“That’s not a sob story, but to go to some of the grounds we’ve gone to with the size of squad we’ve had, it’s been unprecedented so that’s why I want to praise the players that have been there for us to the hilt and be very positive with them.”
These players will certainly benefit from the experience and Newcastle already have a nucleus of a young squad. Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Sven Botman, Sandro Tonali, Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley are all under the age of 25. In fact, Miley became the youngest player in Champions League history to assist a goal for an English club at just 17 on Wednesday night.
You feel these players will one day come back stronger in this competition and, regardless, they had hardly failed even if Jason Cundy claimed as much after ‘the best side in the group’ were eliminated. The pundit even went as far as to say if you put Howe’s team in Ligue 1 or Serie A, ‘they would win it’ and ‘at least go toe-to-toe’ with Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Oh really? Well, Cundy was not exactly saying that when the draw was made in September – even if the Londoner had suggested there was ‘no reason’ that the Magpies could not get out of the group of death. Yet few outsiders genuinely thought that Howe’s team would even take it to the final half of the final game.
This is not a David vs Goliath tale – Newcastle’s financial resources far outweigh what Milan and Dortmund possess – but Howe’s team were fourth seeds for a reason after not competing in Europe for so long. Aside from a handful of players, who had previously sampled life at the top table, Newcastle did not have the priceless nous of seasoned campaigners – and that showed in their home defeats in particular.
As captain Jamaal Lascelles put it: “Performance wise, every single game, we have been in it but a lot of these teams are used to playing Champions League. I don’t think we are…when you are playing against experienced Champions League players, maybe they understand this competition a bit better than we do.”
Having taken four points from their opening two games, injury-ravaged Newcastle picked up just a single point from their final four – and it should have been more. However fortunate Newcastle were to get a draw in their opening group game at the San Siro, the fine margins also worked against the black-and-whites, whether it was PSG’s controversial 98th-minute penalty at the Parc des Princes or the woodwork twice denying Howe’s team a point at home against Dortmund. They also learnt some elite lessons when it comes to taking their chances – Joelinton, somehow, missed that header at Signal Iduna Park – while the hosts were punished for not defending the second phase of a set-piece for Milan’s first and for not being a little smarter in the build-up to the Rossoneri’s second on Wednesday night.
Considering the absences Newcastle have had – from key players such as Nick Pope and Sven Botman to quality alternatives like Sandro Tonali, Joe Willock and Harvey Barnes – the Magpies can still take encouragement from just how close they came to reaching the last 16. Dan Burn said he was ‘very proud’. Eddie Howe felt similarly, telling the players ‘they could not regret the effort they had given’.
However, in the same post-match address, Howe reiterated ‘that the game stops for no one’ and preparations have already started ahead of Saturday’s huge match against free-scoring Fulham. To have any chance of getting back to the Champions League, these are the fixtures a shattered group are going to have to win.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
