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Newcastle somehow escaped the San Siro with a point after a bore draw with AC Milan – despite not having a single shot on target until added time.
There was great excitement among Magpies fans ahead of the club’s first Champions League game in 20 years. However, there was little in the way of excitement during the group stage opener, which only Milan looked like winning.
While they defended stoutly, Eddie Howe’s side were very disappointing as an attacking forward, not mustering a single shot on target in 90 minutes against a side that was thrashed 5-1 by their city rivals Inter at the weekend.
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There was one Newcastle chance and it almost resulted in a late, late winner as a Sean Longstaff effort was brilliantly saved by Milan keeper Marco Sportiello. But the performance left some rival fans asking how they qualified for Europe’s top club competition.
“How did Newcastle end up in top 4,” asked one. Another said: “Newcastle not living up to all that hype, how did they make the top 4?
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A third bluntly declared: “One of the worst Champions League matches of all time this. How did we allow Newcastle to get into this competition?"
A fourth said: “A very boring game of football. How did Newcastle find themselves in the Champions League?”
Newcastle were let off the hook by some hopeless Milan finishing as the Italian giants failed to make the most of their superiority. Rafael Leao was guilty of the worst miss.
The Portugal star completely fluffed his lines with only goalkeeper Nick Pope to beat after attempting an audacious flick at the end of a stunning 34th-minute run and only succeeded in tripping himself. Pope will feel he had already earned his slice of good fortune after making five first-half saves in the space of six minutes.
For the seven-time winners, there was no salvation on a night when they created enough chances but were unable to take any of them, much to the annoyance of the locals among a crowd of more than 65,000.
- Newcastle United FC
- Champions League
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