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27 min: Reijnders slides and flips Livramento into the air like a fried egg. It could easily have been a booking but the referee looks to be in a laissez-faire mood tonight.
25 min: Joelinton whips in a cross from the right. Almiron guides a header towards the top right but it’s too close to Maignan, who claims without fuss. Meanwhile it’s still goalless in the other game. Michael Butler has the latest.
24 min: Now it’s Milan’s turn to pass up a big chance. Musah bursts into space down the middle and slips Leao into the box down the left channel. Leao opens up his body with only Dubravka to beat … but curls an effort meant for the top-right corner miles wide.
22 min: Eddie Howe holds his head in his hands. He knows what a huge chance that was. Why did Almiron not just immediately ram that home? Take nothing away from Tomori’s intervention, mind. What looked a certain goal denied.
20 min: Joelinton drives into the Milan box from the right. He draws Maignan and rolls across for Almiron, who prepares to tap home from a couple of yards. But he waits to go with his left rather than his right, and Tomori is able to stick out a boot and sensationally block. The ball squirts out for a corner, from which nothing comes. That’s as brilliant by Tomori as his earlier slice was comedic.
19 min: Milan aren’t doing much in attack. Leao crosses from the left but the ball’s easily cleared by Livramento. “I just went back and watched the video again,” writes Dida obsessive Chris Paraskevas. “They got the stretcher out for him! The Dark Arts ain’t what they used to be.”
18 min: Space for Schar, in a pocket 30 yards out. He opens his body and attempts to steer into the top-right corner. Always heading over.
16 min: Gordon tries to one-two with Livramento down the inside-left channel but Calabria is having none of it and intercepts on the edge of the Milan box. That’s fine defending that puts paid to a promising attack.
14 min: Some pinball in the Milan box. Joelinton just about sorts his feet out to get a shot away. It bobbles through to Maignan. This is fast and frantic, but not particularly finessed.
Newcastle United’s Joelinton fires off a shot. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters13 min: Joelinton romps towards the Milan box only to be dispossessed brilliantly by Loftus-Cheek. Milan counter through Leao, who slips the ball wide right for Pulisic. He enters the box before slicing a shot-cum-cross out for a goal kick. With Leao in the centre, he should have done better.
12 min: Almiron intercepts in the centre circle and sends Gordon away down the left. The ball’s shuttled infield to Joelinton, who takes the first shot in anger tonight from 30 yards. It deflects wide right, and Maignan races across to stop the ball going out for a corner.
11 min: Newcastle faff around at the back and Dubravka eventually shanks a pass out of play. Then Florenzi crashes into Almiron and earns a taking-to from the referee. It’s a bit scrappy now.
9 min: Lascelles challenges Giroud from behind on the halfway line. He pops his elbow on the back of the striker’s head. Giroud goes over holding it, and rolling around quite a lot. The referee tells them both to get a grip. Then Musah skittles Miley. Suddenly a bit of edge to the game. So much on the line for both sides, after all.
7 min: It’s a fast start by Newcastle. Milan are struggling to string anything together.
5 min: Gordon cuts infield and is hauled down by Pulisic. A free kick, 30 yards out. Trippier, who has been out of sorts lately, takes it and nearly plants it into the top left. Just wide, just over. That should make him feel better after those dodgy outings against Everton and Spurs.
Kieran Trippier curls his free kick over the Milan wall. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters3 min: Almiron curls in a cross from the right. Tomori flashes a leg at the ball to clear, only to slice it horribly over his own head and send it looping towards the top left. Maignan gets back to claim, but only just. Discombobulated, he clatters into Wilson and falls over. Nothing as preposterous as Dida v Wee Ned (2007), Chris Paraskevas will be pleased to hear.
2 min: One hell of an atmosphere at St James’ Park tonight. Like that’s news worth flashing. The home fans celebrate a Gordon block-tackle like a goal. Gordon responds with a COME ON! The place is buzzing.
Milan get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Gallowgate in this first half.
The teams are out! Newcastle are in their famous black and white stripes, while Milan sport a wild pink, purple and blue number that “celebrates the culture of inclusivity and diversity that has been at the heart of AC Milan since day one”, which seems fair enough. We’ll be howay in a minute.
The Toon Army look up for this. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty ImagesPre-match postbag. “Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud… so AC is short for After Chelsea now and Milan is where the Pensioners get pensioned off to?” – Justin Kavanagh
“ACM: Alumni of Chelsea in Milan” – Peter Oh
“I can still remember the great Milan players of old: Nesta, Maldini, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Shevchenko. That lineup for the UCL final against Liverpool is still insane. But for me the endearing image of the club in the 21st Century is Dida going down against Celtic. Simulation is one thing: but the way Dida crumpled in a heap that night at Parkhead was high art. I haven’t seen such blind commitment to a performance since Sylvester Stallone in Escape To Victory. Having said that, it still has nothing on the Bowyer-Dyer fight: Newcastle do public meltdowns so much better (hopefully we avoid another one tonight)” – Chris Paraskevas
Do you remember the 19th night of September? Here’s how the reverse fixture at San Siro panned out as Newcastle returned to the Champions League after a 20-year hiatus and immediately started chasin’ the clouds away (ba-de-ya).
Eddie Howe talks to TNT Sports. “Excited about today … what an arena … the atmosphere will be rocking … we’re delighted to get Callum Wilson back, and Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff … it gives everyone confidence, not just the playing ability but the leadership skills they bring in the changing room … you’re stronger together and we’ve got a bit back … when you look at Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley and how they’ve responded, we’ve almost gained two extra players to our squad that we can depend on … Lewis starts again and deserves to, he’s been magnificent … when we play here the start of the game is crucial … we have to give the fans something early on to get into … we want to keep our European campaign going … I won’t want to know about [the other scoreline in the group] until I need to know about it … tunnel vision.”
The state of play. Here’s how Group F looks before tonight’s final matches.
Borussia Dortmund have already qualified for the knockout stage, while PSG are assured of Europa League action at the very least
PSG will qualify if they win in Dortmund
Newcastle can only qualify if they win and PSG fail to beat Dortmund
Milan can only qualify if they beat Newcastle and PSG lose
A draw at St James’ Park tonight would guarantee Newcastle a place in the Europa League in the new year
Newcastle make just one change to their starting XI in the wake of the 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Callum Wilson replaces the out-of-sorts Alexander Isak, who drops to the bench. Martin Dúbravka has recovered from his reported back and shoulder problems so there’s been no need to call up Loris Karius. Dan Burn meanwhile returns from injury though he doesn’t dislodge his impressive stand-in Tino Livramento; he’s named as a sub.
The teamsNewcastle United: Dubravka, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento, Miley, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Gordon.
Subs: Dummett, Isak, Karius, Hall, Burn, Longstaff, Harrison.
AC Milan: Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Hernandez, Florenzi, Reijnders, Musah, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao, Giroud.
Subs: Adli, Jovic, Okafor, Chukwueze, Pobega, Krunic, Nava, Traore, Mirante, Bartesaghi, Nsiala-Makengo.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).
PreambleArsenal: through. Manchester City: through. Manchester United: out. Will Newcastle United make it three out of four for the Premier League? They’ll need to beat the seven-time winners Milan tonight, and hope Paris Saint-Germain fail to win in Dortmund. “We will try everything,” says Eddie Howe. “It would be an incredible achievement.” Kick off at St James’ Park is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!