Big Match Feature: AC Milan v Newcastle

Newcastle United return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 21 seasons with a glamour contest at San Siro against last season's semi-finalists AC Milan.

While the Magpies are in the group stage for the first time since 2002/03 and just the third overall, seven-time European champions Milan are featuring for the third season in a row and last season reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14.

This is the sides' first meeting and each will be eager for an opening victory with French champions Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund also in Group F.

Form guide

Milan

Record vs English clubs: W12 D13 L19 F47 A55

Home record vs English clubs: W9 D4 L7

Milan ended a five-game losing streak against Premier League opposition with a 1-0 home win against Tottenham in last season's round of 16 first leg, going through after a goalless second leg in north London.

Milan had lost their previous four home games against English visitors and seven of the eight before the win against Spurs.

That was the Rossoneri's first victory against English clubs in ten games (D1 L8), since a 4-0 success against Spurs' local rivals Arsenal in the 2011/12 round of 16 first leg.

The victories against Arsenal and Spurs at San Siro are Milan's only wins in their last 19 games against Premier League opponents (D5 L12).

Milan are making their third successive Champions League group appearance and a 20th overall, three behind Juventus's Italian record of 23.

The seven-time European champions – who claimed their first title at Wembley, the venue for this season's final, in 1963 – reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14 last season. They finished second behind Chelsea in Group E and then knocked out Tottenham and Napoli (1-0 h, 1-1 a) only to lose another all-Italian tie, against neighbours Inter, in the last four (0-2 h, 0-1 a).

Despite five victories in 2022/23, Milan have won only seven of their last 25 UEFA Champions League games (D7 L11). The first-leg defeat of Napoli in the 2022/23 quarter-finals is one of six wins in their last 18 home fixtures, group stage to final (D6 L6), the 3-1 defeat of Dinamo on Matchday 2 having ended a six-game run without a victory (D3 L3).

Milan were Champions League winners in 1994, 2003 and 2007 and runners-up in 1993, 1995 and 2005. They are the only Italian side to triumph more than once in the Champions League era.

The Rossoneri finished fourth in Serie A in 2022/23, 20 points behind champions Napoli.

Newcastle

Record vs Italian clubs: W2 D2 L3 F5 A9

Away record vs Italian clubs: W1 D1 L2

Newcastle's last trip to Italy brought their first win in the country, a 1-0 victory at Palermo in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage.

That made it two games unbeaten away to Serie A sides, Alan Shearer's double having earned a 2-2 draw at Milan's neighbours Inter in the 2002/03 Champions League second group stage. The Nerazzurri had become the first Italian side to win at St James' Park with a 4-1 victory on Tyneside in the reverse fixture.

This is Newcastle's third Champions League group stage campaign and a first since 2002/03, when they finished second in the initial group stage but were eliminated after coming third in their section behind Barcelona and Inter in the second group stage.

The Magpies' only other group campaign came in 1997/98 when, despite opening with a 3-2 home win against Barcelona in which Faustino Asprilla scored a hat-trick, they were knocked out having finished third in Group C behind Dynamo Kyiv and PSV Eindhoven.

Newcastle's last European campaign came in 2012/13 when, under Alan Pardew, they reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, losing to eventual runners-up Benfica (1-3 a, 1-1 h).

A 1-0 victory at Metalist Kharkiv in the 2012/13 Europa League round of 32 second leg is Newcastle's only win in their last eight European away games (D4 L3).

Home and away, the English side have lost only two of their last 14 European games (W5 D7).

Eddie Howe's side were fourth in the Premier League in 2022/23, their highest league finish since coming third under Sir Bobby Robson in 2002/03.

Links and trivia

Sandro Tonali joined Newcastle from Milan in the summer. He had signed for the Rossoneri in 2020, scoring seven goals in 130 games in all competitions over his three seasons with the club and winning Serie A in 2021/22.

Tonali played for Piacenza and Brescia at youth level, making his senior debut for the latter in Serie B in August 2017. He made 89 appearances in three seasons at Brescia, scoring six goals, before moving to Milan.

Have played in England:Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea 2005–2021, Brighton 2017 loan, Hull 2017/18 loan, Derby 2018/19 loan)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea 2004–23, Crystal Palace 2017/18 loan, Fulham 2020/21 loan)
Olivier Giroud (Arsenal 2012–18, Chelsea 2018–21)
Ismaël Bennacer (Arsenal 2015–17)
Christian Pulišić (Chelsea 2019–23)

Giroud scored 39 goals in 119 games for Chelsea between 2018 and signing for Milan in 2021, including one in a 4-1 win against former club Arsenal in the 2019 Europa League final; he also appeared in Chelsea's 2018 FA Cup final victory under Conte and was an unused substitute in their 2021 Champions League defeat of Manchester City. The Frenchman scored 105 times in 253 games for Arsenal between 2012 and 2018, winning three FA Cups.

Giroud scored eight goals in his 14 appearances against Newcastle for Arsenal and Chelsea, winning 13 matches; the exception was a 3-0 loss at St James' Park with Chelsea on the final day of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign.

Pulišić came on as a substitute in Chelsea's 1-0 victory against Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final. He also came off the bench in the victories in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup the same year.

Have played together:
Mike Maignan & Sven Botman (LOSC Lille 2020/21)
Olivier Giroud & Joe Willock (Arsenal 2017/18)

Maignan made 38 Ligue 1 appearances and Botman 37 as LOSC won the French league title in their sole campaign together.

Latest news

Milan

Summer signings

In: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Noah Okafor (Salzburg), Christian Pulišić (Chelsea), Tijjani Reijnders (AZ Alkmaar), Luka Romero (Lazio), Marco Sportiello (Atalanta), Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Marco Pellegrino (Platense), Luka Jović (Fiorentina)Out: Zlatan Ibrahimović (retired), Daniel Maldini (Empoli, loan), Marco Nasti (Bari, loan), Ciprian Tătăruşanu (Abha), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle), Matteo Gabbia (Villarreal, loan), Ante Rebić (Beşiktaş), Marco Brescianini (Frosinone), Junior Messias (Genoa, loan), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta, loan), Marko Lazetić (Fortuna Sittard, loan), Alexis Saelemaekers (Bologna, loan), Lorenzo Colombo (Monza, loan), Divock Origi (Nottingham Forest, loan), Fodé Ballo-Touré (Fulham, loan)

On Saturday, Milan lost the first derby of the season 5-1 to city rivals Inter; it was the first time they had conceded five goals in the fixture since 1974 and the first time ever they had suffered five successive defeats in all competitions against the Nerazzurri.

Milan started their Serie A season with three victories in as many games, scoring eight goals and conceding two.

In the opening 2-0 win at Bologna on 21 August, Pulišić marked his club debut with a goal. He is the fifth American player to score in Serie A after Alexi Lalas, Michael Bradley, Weston McKennie and Gianluca Busio.

Olivier Giroud scored Milan's opener, his first goal with his right foot in the 33 he has registered in all competitions for the Rossoneri.

Pulišić struck again in a 4-1 win against Torino five days later, when Giroud added two more goals.

Giroud became the first Milan player since Andriy Schevchenko in 2001/02 to score four goals in the first three Serie A games when he found the net in Milan's 2-1 victory at Roma on 1 September.

Rafael Leão, who renewed his contract until 2028 in June, scored his first goal of the season against Roma and also got Milan's consolation goal against Inter.

Milan won the first three games in Serie A for the third time in the last four seasons. They had managed to do so three times in the previous 29 campaigns.

Ismaël Bennacer has not been included in Milan's Champions League squad as he is recovering from the knee ligament injury suffered in the first leg of last season's semi-final.

Pierre Kalulu (muscle) and Giroud (ankle) have both been suffering with knocks; the latter started on Saturday, but Kalulu was not involved.

Pulišić converted his club scoring form to the international stage with a late penalty in the United States' 3-0 friendly win against Uzbekistan on 9 September.

Samuel Chukwueze scored for Nigeria in a 6-0 CAF Africa Nations Cup qualifying win against Sao Tomé & Principe on 10 September.

Newcastle

Summer signings

In: Sandro Tonali (Milan), Yankuba Minteh (Odense, loaned to Feyenoord), Harvey Barnes (Leicester), Tino Livramento (Southampton), Lewis Hall (Chelsea, loan)Out: Matty Longstaff (released), Ciaran Clark (released), Karl Darlow (Leeds), Allan Saint-Maximin (Al-Ahli), Garang Kuol (Volendam, loan), Jamal Lewis (Watford, loan), Ryan Fraser (Southampton, loan), Jeff Hendrick (Sheffield Wednesday, loan), Isaac Hayden (Standard Liège, loan)

Eddie Howe's side recorded their first win in four matches on Saturday, beating Brentford 1-0 at St James' Park thanks to a second-half Callum Wilson penalty. It was also their first clean sheet of 2023/24.

Newcastle lost three of their first four Premier League games this season; they did not suffer their third defeat in 2022/23 until their 24th fixture.

The Magpies beat Aston Villa 5-1 on the opening weekend of the season but then lost at Manchester City (0-1) and Brighton (1-3) either side of a 2-1 home defeat by Liverpool.

The weekend win against Brentford was only Newcastle's third victory in their last ten Premier League matches (D3 L4).

Sven Botman returned on Saturday having been out since going off with an ankle injury late on in the 2-1 home defeat by Liverpool on 27 August.

Joelinton has been ruled out for "a number of weeks" after suffering a knee injury while on international duty with Brazil.

Joe Willock is still to play this season; having suffered a hamstring injury in May, he then picked up an Achilles problem in early September that is expected to keep him out for a further six weeks.

Emil Krafth (knee) and Javier Manquillo (groin) have also not yet featured in 2023/24; neither has been included in the Champions League squad.

Anthony Gordon was named Player of the Tournament as England won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship this summer; he scored two goals and set up one more during the finals in Georgia and Romania.

Possible Lineups

Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo Hernández; Krunić, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders; Leão, Giroud, Pulišić
Out: none
Doubtful: Kalulu (thigh)
Misses next match if booked: none

Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Schär, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Bruno Guimarães, Tonali; Almirón, Isak, Gordon
Out: Willock (Achilles), Joelinton (knee)
Doubtful: none
Misses next match if booked: none