Newcastle United played our first Champions League game in 20 years at the San Siro on Tuesday, earning a hard-fought draw. But to say the reactions have been mixed was an understatement.
We knew this would be our biggest test in a very long time. We knew we possibly overperformed last year and capitalised on shoddy seasons for Chelsea and Liverpool.
We knew this was an enormous step up. So why were so many surprised at the clear difference in quality between our two sides?
Milan were beatable; but beating them, or even earning the draw, was never a given. They’re Champions League stalwarts. They finished in the semis last season. They’ve had years to build up a quality team while we’ve had a year and a half. But despite this difference in quality, we gave an excellent account of ourselves.
We did exactly what we needed to do on the night, which was to nullify Milan’s tremendous attacks, and we did it spectacularly.
Nick Pope was back to his impenetrable best after a couple of uncharacteristically shaky games. His confidence was sky-high in that game and that’ll continue into the myriad of competitions we’ll be playing in this season.
The defence too, was near-impossible to break down after a few early scares. Dan Burn might have been questionable in some of his passing but he was the powerhouse we know him to be when defending. Trippier is far more powerful than his diminutive size leads players to believe and he threw in some cracking tackles. Botman showed again why he’s a Rolls Royce (and still leaves us scratching our heads at the fact he’s only 23) and Schär was astute as ever; in fact, his 7/10 rating from the Chronicle was an insult. We love a good crunching slider at Newcastle, and every one of the lads was hoying in blinding tackles for fun.
The fact Milan had over 20 chances is seemingly why we’re coming under so much fire. I’ve seen us described as disgusting (Arturo Vidal), embarrassing (Villa Watch – how’s that going for you?), lucky and so much more. If it wasn’t so funny, it would be insulting and infuriating.
What’s funny is these same people are the ones calling us minnows. Telling us to expect to be pummelled into the ground in every game. To just enjoy the trips, because it’s all we’ll be able to enjoy. Then they think it’s disgusting and embarrassing when we heroically defend to earn a 0-0 draw, at a historic ground, against a long-term Champions League opponent that threw everything they had at us?
I’m not embarrassed. I’m not disgusted. I’m so proud.
We know that many of these games are winnable, but we also know as a club that’s had a 20-year absence from this competition that it was going to be tough. A wake-up call. An enormous challenge. A completely new experience. And we rose to it.
The only thing I can really criticise is that we were toothless going forward. We’ve been experiencing that problem already this season so it’s nothing new, but we were admittedly especially toothless. Perhaps it was panic. Perhaps it was a hint of tiredness. Perhaps it’s that we haven’t quite made everything tick yet this season. Who knows. But I’m not mad.
Gordon got a lot of stick, but I thought he played well feeding off scraps and driving the ball forward. Tonali was once again in the firing line, but same goes, and I was unhappy when he was taken off. Isak had a quiet game, which is uncharacteristic and very forgivable. Longstaff was a powerhouse, and I think I’d have gone headfirst through the glass separating us from Milan supporters if he’d scored that late chance.
Overall, I’ve found the response from non-NUFC supporters and journalists largely amusing. Because they just don’t get it. And we’re also a club everyone wants to hate right now. If a 0-0 draw at the San Siro is disgusting, what would a thumping defeat be? If we’re embarrassing the Premier League, what do we say about Man U, Aston Villa and Brighton?
What does bug me is supporters and journalists in and around Newcastle who should know better. Craig Hope’s unnecessary dig on Sandro Tonali, who’s been one of our best players so far across the entirety of this short season and who, as Howe revealed, has barely trained. People who can’t see past the fact we were under attack in the game. That makes the point all the more impressive.
We did ourselves proud in that game. Not many supporters would sniff at their own teams getting a point at the San Siro, so why should we care if they scoff at ours?
Now that initial nerves have been weeded out and we’ve finally made our 2023 Champions League bow, I expect us to move onwards and upwards.
Bring on PSG.
We also have a lot more to come when Willock, Joelinton return and the new boys settle in properly.
I think with competing well in the CL, a top six finish would be remarkable if we were to achieve it but we need to be braver than we have shown since the Villa game.
Joseph(Quote)