Newcastle United are back in the UEFA Champions League after a 20-year wait. Eddie Howe led the Magpies to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season, the club’s best position in recent years, which earned them a spot in this season’s UCL.
Newcastle may be back in the Champions League, but the group-stage draw did not work in their favour. They’re in this campaign’s ‘group of death’, tied in the same group with PSG, Dortmund, and AC Milan. Eddie Howe’s men have found themselves in trouble as they break a UEFA rule ahead of their UCL opening game against AC Milan today.
Newcastle United break UEFA regulation
Newcastle United fans are excited to see their team in the UEFA Champions League after 20 years, but their enthusiasm has been dampened by a possible UEFA sanction for breaking the rules of the tournament. Newcastle flew to Italy for their UCL opener against AC Milan but broke a UEFA rule as they failed to land in Italy on time for a pre-match press conference.
The UEFA rule states that teams must hold their pre-match press conferences between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time the day before the match is played. According to Sky Sports, Newcastle’s press conference was only held two hours after the deadline. Eddie Howe admitted in the press conference that started at exactly 9 p.m. that a storm was the reason for the delay, although the team will now wait to see if they will receive any sanctions from UEFA for this breach.
Newcastle kickstart their UCL campaign against last season’s semi-finalist AC Milan as they hope to pick up points in Italy after being drawn with some of the competition’s biggest names. Eddie Howe’s men will also face off against Borussia Dortmund and Kylian Mbappe-led Paris Saint-Germain in the group, with many ruling them out of the competition as their chances of making it out of the group are very slim.
Newcastle set for UCL return after 21 years
Money can buy success, and Newcastle are a perfect example of that, as their newly-found oil money helped them secure Champions League football last season. The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League last season behind Manchester City, Arsenal, and Manchester United. That’s not to say money was the only reason Newcastle made it to Europe’s most coveted competition. For context, Chelsea spent more money than the Magpies last season but only managed a 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe has been credited with turning Newcastle around, making them a Champions League team, and returning them back to the competition for the first time since 2003/04.
How far can Newcastle go in the UCL competition this season? Tell us your predictions in the comments.
