Newcastle vs Milan facts

Newcastle United and AC Milan meet in a decisive UEFA Champions League fixture at St James' Park with both needing a victory to have any chance of claiming second place in Group F.

The teams – who drew 0-0 at San Siro on Matchday 1, Newcastle's first game in the competition in 21 seasons – are level on five points, two behind second-placed Paris Saint-Germain. The French club conclude their campaign away at section leaders Borussia Dortmund and will make sure of progress with a win in Germany; if they drop points, Newcastle or Milan could overtake them to reach the round of 16.

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.

Previous meetings

Matchday 1 brought a first ever fixture between the sides, although neither was able to find a breakthrough at San Siro.

Form guide

Newcastle

Record vs Italian clubs: W2 D3 L3 F5 A9
Home record vs Italian clubs: W1 D1 L1

Matchday 1 made it three games without defeat against Italian clubs for Newcastle (W1 D2).

Newcastle's last home game against an Italian side ended in their first defeat, a 4-1 loss against Milan's neighbours Inter in the 2002/03 Champions League second group stage.

The Magpies have played only two other matches against Italian clubs at St James' Park, drawing 0-0 against Roma in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round second leg (0-1 aggregate) and beating Juventus 1-0 in the 2002/03 Champions League first group stage.

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 Milan in the second group stage.

The English club's 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. Under Alan Pardew, they reached the Europa League quarter-finals, losing to eventual runners-up Benfica (1-3 a, 1-1 h).

This season, the Magpies took four points from their first two games thanks to the 0-0 draw at Milan that preceded a 4-1 home defeat of Paris, but then lost home (0-1) and away (0-2) to Dortmund. They looked on course for their second victory last time out but conceded a penalty deep into added time to draw 1-1 in Paris.

The Matchday 3 defeat by Dortmund ended Newcastle's 15-match unbeaten run at home in Europe (W10 D5) and was their first since a 2-1 loss to Deportivo La Coruña in the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup second leg.

Despite the two defeats by Dortmund, home and away the English side have lost only four of their last 19 European games (W6 D9).

Newcastle have also lost only four of their last 23 UEFA club competition group stage matches (W11 D8).

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

Milan

Record vs English clubs: W12 D14 L19 F47 A55
Away record vs English clubs: W1 D8 L12

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.

That is the Rossoneri's only victory against English clubs in 12 games (D3 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 20 games against Premier League opponents (D6 L12).

Milan lifted the European Cup for the first time with a 2-1 win against Benfica at Wembley in 1963 and also won the 2003 UEFA Champions League final at Old Trafford in Manchester, defeating Juventus on penalties after a 0-0 draw. However, their record in England against English hosts shows just one win in 21 matches (D8 L12), against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2004/05 round of 16 when Hernán Crespo scored the only goal of the game.

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 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).

Stefano Pioli's side failed to win their first three games in this season's competition, drawing 0-0 at home to Newcastle and in Dortmund before a 3-0 loss in Paris, kick-starting their campaign with a 2-1 home defeat of the French club only to lose 3-1 to Dortmund at San Siro last time out.

Despite five victories in 2022/23 and this season's defeat of Paris, Milan have won only eight of their last 30 Champions League games (D9 L13). A 4-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 in 2022/23 is one of just three in 16 away games, group stage to final (D6 L7).

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.

Links and trivia

The suspended 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)
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:
Sven Botman & Mike Maignan (LOSC Lille 2020/21)
Joe Willock & Olivier Giroud (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

Newcastle

Newcastle's record in this season's Premier League is W8 D2 L6. They went down 4-1 at Tottenham on Sunday.

That was Newcastle's second successive loss by a three-goal margin, for the first time since November 2017.

The Tyneside club's sixth defeat of the season is one more than in the whole of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

The Magpies were 1-0 winners at home to Manchester United on 2 December, Anthony Gordon scoring the only goal. It was his sixth in the Premier League goal this season, a career best, beating his mark of four in both 2020/21 for Everton and 2022/23 for Everton and Newcastle.

Newcastle then suffered their heaviest defeat of the season on 7 December, going down 3-0 at Everton.

The Matchday 3 defeat by Dortmund ended Newcastle's eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W6 D2). They have lost four of their ten games since, winning four.

Newcastle have won only five of their last 13 games in all competitions, losing five.

Seventeen-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley made his first Premier League start in a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth on 11 November. He has started every game since.

On 1 November Newcastle reached the English League Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win at holders Manchester United in a repeat of last season's final. Lewis Hall scored his first goal for the club and Joe Willock his first of the season.

The Tynesiders will visit Chelsea in the last eight on 19 December.

Eddie Howe's side 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.

Having not kept a clean sheet in their first four games in all competitions, Newcastle managed five in a row before conceding to Paris on Matchday 2. They have kept four in 13 matches since.

Kieran Trippier has seven assists in this season's Premier League, all in his last 11 games.

Newcastle were 8-0 winners at Sheffield United on 24 September – the eight different goalscorers a new Premier League record.

Callum Wilson returned as a substitute on Sunday having been out with a thigh injury since 7 November. Sean Longstaff also came on having not played since 11 November due to an ankle problem.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope is likely to be sidelined for several months after going off against Manchester United with a shoulder injury.

Jacob Murphy went off on Matchday 3 with a shoulder injury. He returned in a 1-0 win against Arsenal on 4 November as a substitute but lasted only 11 minutes before going off again with a recurrence of the problem and has now undergone an operation.

Dan Burn has been out since being replaced at half-time against Arsenal due to a back injury.

Matt Targett was replaced early on at Manchester United on 1 November due to a hamstring injury and has not played since.

Elliot Anderson was expected to be out for eight weeks after suffering a back injury in a 4-0 win at home to Crystal Palace on 21 October.

Harvey Barnes (foot) and Sven Botman (knee) have both been sidelined since the win at Sheffield United.

On 27 October Sandro Tonali was banned from competitive football for ten months following illegal betting charges by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

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.

On 13 October Burn signed a contract extension until 2025.

Milan

The Rossoneri twice came from behind at Atalanta on Saturday only to concede again in the 95th minute and lose 3-2.

Their goals came from Olivier Giroud, back after a two-game suspension, and Luka Jović, his second goal for the club.

Milan earned only their third win in their last ten games in all competitions (D2 L5) on 4 December, defeating Frosinone 3-1 in Serie A.

Jović scored his first goal for the club in his tenth appearance in all competitions. It was his first goal since finding the net for Fiorentina against Roma on 27 May.

Fikayo Tomori was also on target, his second goal of the season in Serie A. It is the first time the defender has scored more than one in a league campaign.

Christian Pulišić scored his fifth goal of the season and is now three behind Olivier Giroud, Milan's top scorer in Serie A this season.

The American's goal came from a long ball by goalkeeper Mike Maignan who has now recorded at least one assist in each of his three seasons with Milan.

It was Milan's second consecutive Serie A win after a 1-0 victory against Fiorentina on 25 November when substitute Francesco Camarda became the youngest player in Serie A history aged 15 years 260 days, beating the record of Bologna's Wisdom Amey (15 years 274 days).

The Rossoneri had kept five clean sheets in six games before losing 1-0 at home to Juventus on 22 October; they have managed only one in the ten games since, against Fiorentina.

Rafael Leão was forced off after ten minutes of the 2-2 draw at Lecce on 11 November with a thigh injury and has not played since.

Noah Okafor has been sidelined since going off with a thigh injury in Switzerland's 1-0 UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying loss to Romania on 21 November.

Malick Thiaw was replaced early in the second half against Dortmund on Matchday 5 with a thigh injury that is expected to keep him out until 2024.

Defender Pierre Kalulu will be out for about four months after suffering a thigh injury in another 2-2 draw, at Napoli on 29 October. Marco Pellegrino, his replacement in that game, went off himself after fracturing a bone in his left foot and has not played since.

Defender Mattia Caldara has been out since undergoing ankle surgery in September.

Simon Kjær has not played since Matchday 3 due to a muscle injury.

Marco Sportiello has been out with a muscle problem since 18 October.

Ismaël Bennacer, not included in Milan's Champions League squad following the knee ligament injury suffered in the first leg of last season's semi-final, played 11 minutes as a substitute against Frosinone and also came on on Saturday.

On 4 December Theo Hernández and Rafael Leão were included in the Team of the Season selected by the Association of Italian Footballers.