Newcastle United's owners hope games against European opposition become a regular occurrence at St James' Park in the years to come. If the Magpies maintain their superb start to the campaign in the second half of the season, that dream will become a reality a lot sooner than anyone could have imagined.
However, for now, at least, the visit of Spanish side Rayo Vallecano to Tyneside on Saturday was nothing more than a taster, a mere friendly, albeit an important final step in Newcastle's preparations for the restart. There may not have been points or silverware on offer, but 34,956 supporters rocked up to see Newcastle defeat Rayo 2-1 in the hosts' final warm-up fixture before the campaign gets back under way next week.
Tuesday's last 16 Carabao Cup tie against Bournemouth will naturally tell us so much more, but this was still a useful exercise for Eddie Howe, who will have taken heart from not only Sean Longstaff opening the scoring after just four minutes but, also, how striker Chris Wood confidently dispatched a second-half penalty. Particularly at a time when the returning Callum Wilson's load is being managed and record signing Alexander Isak is being eased back following a troublesome thigh injury.
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Although Matt Targett did put the ball through his own net late on, Newcastle saw the game out as the players got the win they wanted - even in a seemingly meaningless exhibition game like this. That Allan Saint-Maximin was still tracking back to help his team-mates in the closing stages told its own story. The Frenchman teased the fans 'you're not ready for what's coming' ahead of this game and this was certainly a moment you could not have pictured not so long ago.
It summed up the eagerness of a number of Newcastle players to impress with places still potentially up for grabs ahead of the Bournemouth game. Indeed, even when the match became disjointed after the break, Kieran Trippier was still raising his voice, still urging his team-mates to up the intensity.
That Trippier and England team-mate Nick Pope started this friendly - less than a week after returning from the World Cup - shows you how seriously Howe took Saturday's game. Following eight victories in nine competitive games in all competitions before the break, Howe admitted it was 'hugely important' to continue to win when, in a previous era, these exhibition games were not taken quite so seriously.
"The character of the players is so important," the Newcastle boss told reporters after the match. "These games are not always easy. You've got to try and generate the mentality from within that you want to perform well and you want to win, and I thought the players carried that through really well.
"They're different games to competitive games - just, naturally, psychologically, they are different - but the players managed themselves really well. There was some really good football and we could have scored more."
This match may have taken place just three days before the Bournemouth tie, because of planned NHS strike action next week, but Howe was not about to use that as an excuse to field a weakened team. Rayo, after all, were just two points off the Champions League places in La Liga and Andoni Iraola's side picked up results against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona earlier this season. No wonder captain Jamaal Lascelles felt this test would 'take things to another level'.
Although a host of key players were not involved, after taking part in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the training ground just a day previously, Howe nonetheless named a strong side with six starters from the 1-0 victory against Chelsea last month all keeping their places. That quality soon told.
Rayo Vallecano may have offered an early warning shot - Nick Pope made a great save after just a couple of minutes to tip Raul de Tomas' close-range effort over the bar - but Newcastle made the breakthrough with literally their first attack. There were just four minutes on the clock when Jacob Murphy slipped the ball inside to Sean Longstaff, who lashed the ball into the net from a tight angle at the near post.
Rayo looked shell-shocked and, just a minute later, Newcastle thought they had doubled their advantage when Saint-Maximin raced clear and unselfishly squared the ball to Chris Wood to finish. However, the Frenchman was flagged offside and the goal was chalked off.
It was a game of few clear cut chances, after such an entertaining opening, but Newcastle did have an opportunity to go into half-time 2-0 up. Rayo goalkeeper Scole Dimitrievski, though, was equal to Jacob Murphy's effort on the half-hour mark.
Howe stuck with the same XI after the break as Newcastle went in search of a second and the Magpies were awarded a penalty midway through the second half after Joe Willock was brought down inside the box. Chris Wood duly stepped up to double his side's advantage.
Rayo, who brought on former Newcastle defender Florian Lejeune late on, did pull one back after Targett scored an own goal with a quarter of an hour to go, but the Magpies held out. Now the real fun begins.
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