Newcastle United silence critics to prove Champions League worth

MILAN: It was something far from pretty, that will live long in the memory despite being so forgettable.

Newcastle United ground out their first match back in the UEFA Champions League with grit, will and luck. However, Tuesday night was a moment in history for all associated with the Magpies to be forever imprinted in memory.

This was about more than just a match, and a hard-earned away point. It was a celebration — a coming together of tormented souls, a pilgrimage to one of world football’s most iconic arenas, a journey not made for two decades.

In 2003, a little under 5 percent of the total population of Newcastle made the 2,000-mile round trip to see Sir Bobby Robson’s men almost snatch victory from Inter Milan, with club legend Alan Shearer netting twice. The 4,000 Geordies in the San Siro had no goals to cheer on this occasion, but all left with smiles as wide as the Tyne as Newcastle ground their way to a 0-0 draw against last season’s semifinalists AC Milan.

It was a million miles away from the statement performance Eddie Howe had foretold of in his weather-delayed pre-match huddle in the bowels of Milan’s great stadium. The fluency of old was absent, transitions littered with errors and, in truth, could have played on all night without scoring. But many of the criticisms levelled at Howe’s team have been answered.

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, I didn’t think the draw was luck,” said Howe.

“We were slight disappointed with how we played with the ball tonight but there’s a lot of different reasons for that.

“Our first thought wasn’t to defend deep or to protect our goal, far from it, that’s not how we set up our team. We tried to be aggressive, we tried to get to the Milan center-backs and