Newcastle United take on AC Milan in their opening match of the 2023/24 Champions League when they travel to the San Siro this afternoon. Eddie Howe’s men have not featured in the group stage of Europe’s top-flight since the 2002/03 season over 20 years ago.
Their group also features Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint-Germain and the Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund in what has been named the group of death. Newcastle come into the tournament as heavy underdogs but have shown enough promise and ability under Howe to prove that they are credible threats to the bigger sides.
Milan have lost just one of their last 13 competitive matches as the home side but, while Newcastle ended a run of three defeats with victory over Brentford at the weekend, their hosts tonight were heavily beaten by local rivals Inter Milan and will hope to respond with victory over the Magpies.
Follow all the action from this Champions League clash at the San Siro. Plus you can get all the latest football betting sites offers here.
AC Milan host Newcastle for a Champions League group stage clash
Kick off at the San Siro is at 5.45pm
Newcastle are playing in their first Champions League campaign for 20 years
16:45 , Mike Jones
A Newcastle United supporter is in hospital in Milan after being stabbed on Monday night.
Newcastle fans have flocked to Italy to watch their club play against AC Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday, in what will be their first Champions League match for 20 years.
Eddie McKay, 58, was with his son and a friend when they were attacked by a group of men wearing hoodies at around midnight near the centre of the city, before police intervened. He was stabbed in the back and arms after he fell while trying to run away. Photos showed a shirtless man with a Newcastle United tattoo lying on the street in a pool of blood, being treated by medics before being taken away in an ambulance.
Newcastle fan stabbed in Milan ahead of Champions League match
16:40 , Mike Jones
Newcastle’s last game in Europe was over 10 years ago, when Alan Pardew’s team reached the quarter-finals of the 2012/13 Europa League.
After losing 3-1 to Benfica in Lisbon, a second-half Papiss Cisse goal gave the Magpies hope at St James’ Park, only for Eduardo Salvio’s late strike to earn the Portuguese side a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Can they mark their return to European competition with a victory tonight?
16:34 , Mike Jones
Eddie Howe makes three changes to the Newcastle team that defeated Brentford in the Premier League at the weekend. Sandro Tonali, Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy all come in with Elliot Anderson, Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson dropping out.
16:32 , Mike Jones
Eddie Howe has named his first Champions League starting XI. Here’s how it looks:
Newcastle XI: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff, Tonali, Murphy, Gordon, Isak
16:25 , Mike Jones
Eddie Howe has insisted the weather which delayed Newcastle’s arrival in Italy will not derail their Champions League adventure.
The club’s European mission hardly got off to the most auspicious of starts when, having been given special dispensation to train on Tyneside on Monday morning rather than at the San Siro later in the day, they remained on the ground for more than two hours.
However, speaking at a press conference which finally got under way at around 9pm local time when it had initially been scheduled for 7pm, Howe was adamant preparations for a tough opening encounter with AC Milan would not be hampered as a result.
16:20 , Mike Jones
AC Milan are tricky opponents in the Champions League and will want to bounce back from their derby defeat at the weekend.
They’ll try to utilise the atmosphere of the San Siro to their advantage but Newcastle, buoyed by the prospect of once again playing in Europe, will have enough quality to keep them at bay for a slender win or, more likely, a scoring draw.
AC Milan 1-1 Newcastle
16:15 , Mike Jones
AC Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Hernandez; Reijnders, Krunic, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Giroud, Leao
Newcastle XI: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Tonali, Guimaraes; Gordon, Isak, Barnes
16:11 , Mike Jones
AC Milan are without centre-back Pierre Kalulu due to a thigh concern while Ismael Bennacer continues to recover from knee surgery. Fikayo Tomori was suspendes for Milan’s defeat to Inter at the weekend but is expected to come straight back into the starting XI for tonight’s game.
Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali will return to the San Siro despite picking up a knock while on international duty. He was on the bench for the win versus Brentford but is expected to feature for Eddie Howe’s men this evening. Joe Willock and Emil Krafth are out with respective calf and knee injuries while Joelinton (knee) is also absent.
16:06 , Mike Jones
The match kicks off at 5.45pm BST on Tuesday 19 September at the San Siro in Italy.
AC Milan vs Newcastle will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage starting at 5pm. It will be streamed live on the Discovery+ app and desktop website for subscribers.
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16:01 , Mike Jones
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League action.
Newcastle are back in the big time after their fourth place finish in the Premier League last season and Eddie Howe’s men are being thrown in the deep end with a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan.
It’s been 20 years since Newcastle last played in Europe’s top-flight but under Howe they have shown enough promise to hold their own against their more experienced opponents.
Tonight’s encounter should be an interesting one and should Newcastle win it will give them a huge boost ahead of facing Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund later in the group stages.
We’ll have all the build-up, team news and updates before kick off at 5.45pm so stick around.
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