A few hours before kick-off, small groups of fans walked across the Swing Bridge over the River Tyne, where Kieron Dyer crashed his red Ferrari twenty years ago, the last time Newcastle United were big in Europe, and began the climb to the top of the top. steep slope towards their cathedral on the hill.
The European royal family was back in town and the streets were already packed with expectant fans, not noticing the cold of the winter night or the rain in the air. This was a night for a new generation and a new era for the club, a club that, buoyed by the wealth of Saudi Arabia, is no longer an underdog.
“It doesn't go beyond our wildest dreams,” read a giant flag unfurled in the Gallowgate End before kick-off: “Because we had wild dreams.” And for much of the game, it felt like those wild, wild dreams were getting closer to reality.
For much of the match, as Newcastle led AC Milan, it looked as if Eddie Howe's team were heading into the last 16 of the Champions League, alongside European aristocracy such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and the new kings of the competition , Manchester City.
But then, after Joelinton's sumptuous first-half goal, Milan regained their poise, equalizing through Christian Pulisic and getting a winner through Samuel Chukwueze, and suddenly it didn't matter anymore what happened in the match between Borussia Dortmund and PSG.
Newcastle fought hard and were excellent for a few spells, but they are now out of Europe
For much of the match it looked as if Eddie Howe's team were heading for the last sixteen
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And suddenly the wildest dreams seemed a little further away. The defeat left Newcastle without even the consolation prize of a place in the Europa League. Like Manchester United, they had finished bottom of their group, with only a win to show for their adventures.
Unlike Erik ten Hag's team, they had at least tried. In contrast to the Ten Hag team, it is a team on the rise. But for now at least they will have to wait until they can match the achievements of Dyer and Sir Bobby Robson's team of 20 years ago.
This was the biggest European night for the club since the famous victory over Feyenoord under Sir Bobby Robson in November 2002, when a late winner from Craig Bellamy took them through to the second group stage of the Champions League after losing their first three games in the Champions League had lost. competition.
There have been some memorable European nights at home too, not least when Newcastle beat Barcelona here in September 1997 with Faustino Asprilla scoring a hat-trick to beat the Catalan giants' side featuring Rivaldo, Luis Figo and Luis Enrique.
The 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the North East in October is on a par with those nights for what it meant to Newcastle supporters after their years in the wilderness under Mike Ashley. They cheered it here as a resurrection.
The same was true against Milan. The stadium was a cauldron at kick-off. The throaty, visceral roar as Anthony Gordon stormed through a Davide Calabrian attack in the opening minutes shook the air. Milan seemed nervous about the occasion. Either that, or they generally have a hard time stringing together more than two passes.
The noise and fury did not subside and Newcastle should have opened the scoring after twenty minutes. Joelinton did a great job of putting the ball across goal to beat Mike Maignan's dive. Miguel Almiron only had to touch the ball to put it in, but somehow his feet got mixed up and allowed Fikayo Tomori to make a brilliant tackle on the goal line that saved his team.
Shortly afterwards, Milan gave the first indication that he had the tools to play fluidly in the future and Newcastle were fortunate to see Rafael Leao curl his shot well wide as he found space on the left of the home area.
Newcastle didn't even have the consolation prize of a place in the Europa League
After Joelinton's lush attack in the first half, Milan regained their balance and attacked
But twelve minutes before half-time, Newcastle got the goal their play and intensity deserved. Gordon, who had been unstoppable, moved forward and played a pass to Lewis Miley on the edge of the Milan penalty area.
Miley put the ball back into Joelinton's path and when Joelinton touched the ball, the ball sat up in front of him and he crashed a spectacular, rising half-volley high past Maignan's desperate dive to almost burst the Milan net.
Joelinton sprinted to the sideline to hug Eddie Howe. It was his first goal in the Champions League since scoring for Hoffenheim against Lyon five years ago. A cleaner and more important strike could hardly have taken place.
Milan was distracted and restless. They looked like a team that is a distant third in Serie A, a side with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, who have struggled to make an impact in the Premier League. When Maignan was shown a yellow card for dissent at the end of the first half, it reflected Milan's incompetence.
Milan did not improve at the start of the second half. Former Newcastle great Chris Waddle, sitting in the back row of the press box, described their performance to that point as 'absolutely pathetic'. Newcastle surpassed them.
And then, early in the second half, came the news the stadium had been waiting for: Dortmund had taken the lead against PSG at the Westfalenstadion. All around St James' Park, groups of Newcastle fans jumped in the air and hugged each other.
The news that PSG had equalized five minutes later was received less enthusiastically. And then, out of nowhere, just before the hour mark, Milan equalized after some chaotic defending in Newcastle's box.
The ball bounced around the area until it found Olivier Giroud, who conjured a moment of calm and elegance among the crowd and played a clever square ball to Pulisic. Pulisic, until then the personification of everydayness, was composed enough to shoot the ball past Martin Dubravka. It became quiet in the stadium.
Milan had come more and more into the match in the second half after a very slow start
Joelinton produced a remarkable strike that sent St James' Park into a frenzy in the first half
Howe made a series of substitutions. Alexander Isak entered. Dan Burn came on. Midway through the half, Isak cut inside his marker and curled a dipping shot just over the crossbar. Newcastle were still pushing for the win.
They thought they had taken the lead again on 68 minutes when Bruno Guimaraes, their richly talented Brazilian midfielder, limped outside his marker on the edge of the Milan penalty area and curled a vicious shot towards the far corner.
It looked like a goal from the moment the ball left his boot, but Maignan threw himself to his left, reached out with his left hand and pushed the ball up and onto the crossbar before it bounced to safety.
Milan spurned a chance to win the match 12 minutes from time when Leao burst from Newcastle's defense and attacked Dubravka. He fired his shot past Dubravka, but the shot went off the outside of the right post. Newcastle was breathing again.
Milan had come more and more into the match in the second half and now it was their turn to push for the winner as time expired. Newcastle had a habit of tiring late in games and it looked like this was happening again.
That impression was confirmed when Chukwueze scored the winner six minutes before the end. Tomori crashed a shot against the post as Milan looked to increase their lead and Newcastle could not find a way back.