The banner in the Gallowgate End quoted the man who remains the only manager to steer Newcastle out of a Champions League group stage. “It’s not beyond our wildest dreams because we did have wild dreams,” said Bobby Robson. And if the Geordie romantic seemed more of a dreamer than Eddie Howe, the accusation, 20 years after Robson’s Newcastle secured their passage in thrilling fashion with a late goal in the final group game, was that his modern-day counterpart had been too wild, that chasing the dream cost United.
Newcastle lost a Europa League place by committing defenders forward in search of a winner and seeing AC Milan score one instead. Boldness backfired in an instant but Newcastle wanted the victory. “That has always been my way,” said Howe. “I like to think that is the Newcastle way, the way the club has been traditionally built.” Not for them, the timidity of settling for third place. “We wanted to qualify for the Champions League, for sure. That was very much our intention before and in the game.”
Now they want to qualify for it again. A taste has left Newcastle wanting more, with the sense it was taken from them too soon by the toughest of groups and the finest of margins. Four of their six games could easily have produced another result. They have time to rue the award of Paris Saint-Germain’s 98th-minute penalty in France, but if the performance they should regret most came in the home defeat to Borussia Dortmund, even then they hit the woodwork twice. As AC Milan came from behind to overcome and eliminate Newcastle, they could reflect on an extraordinary goal-line clearance, from Fikayo Tomori, and save, courtesy of Mike Maignan. Finishing fourth with five points felt harsh, though that does not necessarily mean Newcastle deserved to qualify.
But of the two Uniteds to prop up a group, there are more mitigating circumstances for Newcastle: their unfamiliarity with the competition, the calibre of the opponents, the crippling injury list. “We went into the season knowing the power of the squad and how important that was going to be and unfortunately we lost that power,” lamented Howe. “We have gone into Champions League games with very few options.”
Newcastle’s superpower was supposed to be running: instead they ran out of players. Against Milan, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon were taken off with minor injuries, adding to a lengthy list. Over a six-game campaign, they can look at the final ledger of minutes, from a possible 540: Harvey Barnes one, Sven Botman 90, Joe Willock 100, Sandro Tonali 162, Callum Wilson 239. They would have budgeted for more from each. Tonali’s absence, with a 10-month ban for gambling, places him in a different category, but he was supposed to be the ready-made Champions League specialist, the midfielder who played 1053 minutes in Milan’s run to the last four last season.
Joelinton had fired Newcastle ahead before AC Milan came back (Mike Egerton/PA)— (PA Wire)
Newcastle took four points from the two games Tonali started, one from the four he did not. And if that is a simplification, there are other aspects to their elimination. Apart from the four-goal rout of PSG, they only scored twice in five matches. Nick Pope was their outstanding player in at least three games; perhaps four. He was statistically the best goalkeeper in the competition after five rounds, saving them – according to expected goals statistics – 4.9 goals, stopping 26 shots. With a lesser goalkeeper, they might not have got a point in Paris or Milan.
Others nevertheless sweated for the cause. “I definitely don’t think we can regret the effort we have given,” Howe said. “You look at how much the players have given: physically they have given so much.”
And in part by straining every sinew, by battling when depleted, reputations were enhanced over their continental campaign, and not merely that of the heroically defiant Pope. Jamaal Lascelles, the captain summoned from the shadows, can say he has led the club in the Championship and the Champions League, each with commitment and distinction. Bruno Guimaraes is a class act; Newcastle may wonder still more how they enticed him to Tyneside when they were in the relegation zone. Tino Livramento was terrific in each of his three starts, rendering the handball decision against him in Paris all the more pitiless; he looks a player equipped to excel at this level. Lewis Miley showed his precocity, particularly in France. Joelinton now has a rocket against AC Milan on his CV. Gordon ends his maiden European campaign with no goals and no assists, but having hassled and harried a host of defenders. He certainly was not intimidated by the stage.
Nor, really, were Newcastle. They may return in the future, with more savviness, more expensive additions and, perhaps, fewer survivors of the relegation battle Howe inherited. Perhaps there will be less romance to that team, though.
And they will always have the magnificent demolition of Paris Saint-Germain, an evening, a game and a result to rank alongside Barcelona in 1997. They will have Dan Burn soaring through the night sky to head in, Sean Longstaff powering into the PSG box to score, the choruses of “Geordie boys, taking the piss” as Kylian Mbappe and co were vanquished. Even in a group that ultimately offered a reminder that Newcastle have had many a near-miss over the years, that surreal, seminal night felt beyond their wildest dreams.
