06:08 PM BST
20 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Bruno needs to get into the game more. Both Gordon and Tonali are doing well up the left but Milan look lethal on the break.
06:08 PM BST
18 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Krunic decides to try his luck from 25 yards and shoots. Pope backpedals and claws it over. Krunic takes the corner on the left, whipping in an inswinger. Tomori runs interference giving Hernandez a free header that Pope again saves. Everything is straight at him so far. But they’ve needed him.
06:05 PM BST
15 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
They’re under the cosh for a couple of minutes now and Loftus-Cheek beats Burn and squares the ball into the box for Giroud to work an effort on goal. Pope to the rescue again. Corner … from which Leao tries to feast on a bobbling ball at the back post but he can’t meet it properly.
06:01 PM BST
13 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Burn’s error makes a gift of the ball to Krunic who sweeps it infield to Pobega and he lets fly with real power but close enough to Pope for the keeper to reach at full-stretch and batter it away. Back comes the ball in from Leao on the left and Chukwueze meets it at the far post. Pretty much a point-blank block from Pope saves Newcastle.
05:59 PM BST
11 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Gordon has the pace to burn past Calabria down the outside and gets to the byline but his cutback is thumped away by Thiaw. Hernandez picks it up and starts to motor away so Longstaff brings him down. He escapes a booking but that’s two now from him and he’ll surely get done next foul.
05:57 PM BST
9 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Longstaff leaves his foot in when Leao threatens to burst past him. Nothing comes from the restart and Newcastle pass it around the back four until Schar hits a long diagonal over the top for Murphy to chase. The winger takes the ball in his stride after a decent first touch and Hernandez tugs his shirt outside the box. Murphy goes down inside the area but the referee didn’t see the infringement and waves play on despite Murphy re-enacting it for him through the universal language of mime, Lionel Blair style.
05:54 PM BST
7 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Tonali and Gordon go down the left and skirt the byline to cut the ball back, looking for Isak but Gordon just takes the ball out of play. Newcastle hound Maignan and his defenders when they try to play the goalkick short across the box.
05:52 PM BST
5 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
TNT Sport reports that it’s a touch under 30C inside San Siro so the players are going to suffer. Murphy and Trippier combine well on the right to work the ball into the box and Tomori knocks it out for a throw-in.
05:51 PM BST
3 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Leao is of course playing on the left up against Trippier and Murphy, not Samu Chukwueze. Hernandez is found by a crossfield pass wide on the left. He traps the ball and feeds it in to Leao who pulls the trigger from 25 yards and Pope easily gathers.
05:48 PM BST
1 min: Milan 0 Newcastle 0
Newcastle kick off and chip the ball long up the left for Gordon but Calabria wins the header and Hernandez clears up. Tonali shoves over Loftus-Cheek when the new signing from Chelsea tries to dribble past him.
05:46 PM BST
First a minute’s silence
For the victims of the Morocco earthquake and Libyan flood.
05:44 PM BST
Bless him
They’ve all got their business faces on apart from Jacob Murphy who is positively beaming during the anthem.And why wouldn’t you?
Both sides in their home kits save for Newcastle switching to white shorts to avoid the clash. Rossoneri play bianconeri.
05:42 PM BST
The teams are walking out of the tunnel
Here we go then:
Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions
05:35 PM BST
A fun afternoon after last night’s savagery
The Newcastle United supporters, with many hundreds travelling without tickets for the game this season, have been making the most of the sunshine in Milan, mainly congregating along the canal in Navigli.
It is fair to say a lot of alcohol has been consumed but the atmosphere has been fun rather than intimidating.
Despite the savage attack on a group of Newcastle fans in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in which one 58-year-old fan was stabbed while his Newcastle shirt was cut off his back, the mood has been far more pleasant and jovial while the sun shone today.
Fans from both clubs have been mixing freely outside the stadium and travelled together to San Siro on trains and buses. It may be a different story at night again, but it was actually nice to see an English side in Europe enjoying the chance to mix with their hosts.
Let’s hope that stays the case.
05:33 PM BST
Old stamping ground
As expected Sandro Tonali starts for Newcastle against his former club AC Milan and the Italy international was roared on to the pitch by both sets of supporters when he came out to warm up.
Tonali made sure he applauded all four sides of the ground and AC Milan’s ultras behind the goal responded by singing his name loudly.
He also appears to have had a shave for his homecoming game, removing the designer stubble to reveal his surprisingly boyish features. For a player who is still only 23-years-old he has already crammed a lot in.
Newcastle need a big performance from the midfielder this evening. It has been a bit of a mixed bag so far from their most expensive summer signing. Tonali admitted at the pre-match press conference on Monday that he had found it very hard and difficult in his first few weeks on Tyneside, but feels much happier now. His inability to speak English has not helped him settle but that is something he is working hard to remedy.
05:20 PM BST
Eddie Howe speaks
We’re looking forward to it. It’s loud already and it’s not half full. It’s a big challenge for us but hopefully one we can rise to. Those lads with experience will be vital for us, those without experience we hope will attack it like we want them to. The enjoyment thing is very rare in management but that will come for me by performing at our best.
It’s a fantastic reward for such a loyal supporter base. They are increddible, home and away. They deserve this and we want to do it for them tonight.
We have to manage Callum’s load so Alexander and Sandro come back in. Jacob deserves his chance.
05:10 PM BST
Living it large in Milan
05:06 PM BST
TNT Sports is excited about its first Champions League tie
Reshmin Chowdhury is the host but not much else has changed from BT Sport – Joe Cole and Jermaine Jenas are in the studio. Just as BT Sport’s approach seemed to be very middle of the road and hardly innovative, this is continuity central: ‘Don’t scare the horses.’
04:59 PM BST
Your teams in black and white
Milan Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Pobega; Chukwueze, Giroud, Leao.
Substitutes Sportiello (gk), Mirante (gk), Adli, Pulisic, Reijnders, Jovic, Okafor, Kjaer, Florenzi, Musah, Bartesaghi.
Newcastle Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Tonali; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Substitutes Karius (gk), Harris (gk), Dummett, Lascelles, Wilson, Targett, Barnes, Hall, Livramento, Almiron, Anderson, Miley.
Referee Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain)
04:52 PM BST
Jacob Murphy has played five minutes of first team football this season
It’s a big call but I suppose he gives Kieran Trippier a bit more protection though given Christian Pulisic is not playing and they have gone for the blistering pace of Samuel Chukwueze who can cut in on his left, he’s going to need a midfielder to help out too.
04:37 PM BST
Toon make three changes
Tonali, Murphy and Isak replace Anderson, Barnes and Wilson:
04:36 PM BST
Milan make three changes from the derby defeat
Tomori, Pobega and Chukwueze come in for Kjaer, Pulsiic and Reinders:
03:39 PM BST
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03:35 PM BST
Preview: No alla violenza
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League Group F game at San Siro between AC Milan and Newcastle United. First off, let us condemn yet another incident in which a football fan has been stabbed on an away day trip to Italy. For more than 20 years there have been stories of slashings, frequently from behind, and stabbings in the 24 hours before games in Rome, Naples, Turin and Milan and still it goes on. Some people who do not travel say trouble can always easily be avoided but whatever precautions you take, bar not going out, being jumped and stabbed in the back can happen to any individual or group. Ambushes, random or planned, catch even the most cautious supporter by surprise as they are designed to do. It is Italy’s shame and Uefa’s disgrace that it keeps happening.
Right, Newcastle return to European football for the first time since their Europa League quarter-final defeat by Benfica in 2013, and the Champions League proper since a 2-0 defeat by Barcelona at St James’ in the second group stage in 2003. They come into the match after a 1-0 victory over Brentford when Eddie Howe stiffened his midfield with the introduction of Sean Longstaff and opted for Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes in his front three instead of Alexander Isak and Miguel Almirón. They looked far more solid but it does pose a question about Sandro Tonali starting against his old club here.
Milan had been coping pretty well without him, switching to 4-3-3 and using Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s propensity for dribbling, the box-to-box dynamism of Tijjani Reinders and Rade Krunic’s probing in midfield. But it all came horribly unstuck for them in Saturday night’s derby when they were gubbed 5-1. “Today’s result doesn’t take anything away from the quality and depth of my squad,” Stefano Pioli said to general derision after the match. Against a team that still relies heavily on Rafael Leao for their spark and Olivier Giroud to keep rolling along, Newcastle have more than enough to exploit any further wobbles.
