AC Milan substitute Samuel Chukwueze scored a superb late winner to seal a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United as both teams exited the Champions League at St. James' Park on Wednesday.
At one point, during a nail-biting climax in Group F, Newcastle were on their way to the last 16 when Joelinton's rasping drive in the first half put them in the lead, leaving Paris St Germain in Germany behind Borussia Dortmund.
But seven-time champions Milan were much better in the second half as Newcastle ran out of steam and Christian Pulisic equalized on the hour mark from Olivier Giroud's pass.
With both sides going for the win, Bruno Guimaraes got a shot off the crossbar from Milan keeper Mike Maignan before Rafael Leao hit the post at the other end.
Mail Sport's Craig Hope takes you through the things you might have missed.
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No redemption for goalkeeper Karius
Selfishly, we reporters wanted Loris Karius to play here. We swap stories and what a story it would have been if the goalkeeper was making his first Champions League appearance since the 2018 final with Liverpool, when two of his mistakes led to Real Madrid goals in a 3-1 defeat.
Unfortunately (and please take that in the spirit in which it is intended) Martin Dubravka recovered from his illness and Karius was left on the bench, where he has spent much of the five years since his horror show in Kiev.
His only start for almost three years came in Newcastle's Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United in February.
When it looked like he would be coming on for this huge match, you wondered if Karius had a 'big game' clause in his contract!
Goalkeeper Loris Karius remained on the bench after Martin Dubravka recovered from illness
An evening to forget for the Toon
This was the first visit by an Italian side to St James' Park in 21 years.
The last were Milan's city rivals Inter, who won 4-1 in the same competition. It was a disastrous evening for Sir Bobby Robson's side. Craig Bellamy was sent off after six minutes for violent conduct and Alan Shearer was later given a two-match ban for punching Fabio Cannavaro in an off-the-ball match.
Shearer would play just three more times for Newcastle in the Champions League, which was unthinkable at the time.
Milan stars don't like St. James'
At kick-off the temperature dropped to 1 degrees Celsius. Newcastle had one long-sleeved fielder. By comparison, Milan had ten.
The Italians also did not feel like training in St. James' on the eve of the match.
They showed up, took one look at the rainstorm blowing around the stadium and headed straight to the sanctuary of their nearby hotel.
Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes braved the bitter cold in short sleeves, unlike the Milan stars
Seedorf joins the stars
In the latest in our series of Champions League star spots (Michael Laudrup in Paris was the highlight of the season) we had Clarence Seedorf and Gianfranco Zola.
There is perhaps no player who screams 'Champions League' more than four-time winner Seedorf.
And to be honest, it seems like he could still play in the league.
54 and counting
A personal note. Wednesday was my father's 80th birthday. He was here the night Newcastle won the first leg of the Fairs Cup final against Ujpest Dozsa in 1969. Little did he – nor many of the 60,000 in attendance that evening – ever believe it would go another 54 years without a trophy.
Fans follow Tonali to Spoons!
Sandro Tonali was in the stands, just as he was earlier in the day when Newcastle Under-19s beat Milan 3-1 at Whitley Park.
We can assume that the Italian stayed away from the boardroom at St. James' Park, where relations between the respective hierarchies were undoubtedly tense. Tonali has been banned for 10 months for illegal gambling during his time at Milan, who surprisingly sold their captain and star player to Newcastle in the summer. Did they know the gambling investigation was coming?
Whatever the case, it appears Newcastle will have to accept their fate, even as legal options are explored.
Milan fans gathered at a Wetherspoons in the city center on Wednesday. One wonders if that's a result of Tonali's recommendation. He was pictured at the budget chain in August after teammates told him it was the best eatery in town. There wasn't much laughter when his gambling ban was confirmed in October.
Newcastle's £52million midfielder Sandro Tonali was pictured in a local Wetherspoons in a viral social media post