It was inevitable wasn’t it? If anyone was going to be drawn in anything that might lend itself to being labelled the group ‘The Group of Death’, it was Newcastle United. Throw in the fact that Sandro Tonali is granted a swift return to his boyhood club and this one can rightfully take its place on the ever increasing list of ‘most Newcastle United things ever’.
Obviously, there’s been a huge amount of attention on us since the draw. The media seems split; some rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of us getting dumped out of the competition early, while others have spoken up and declared that we’ll qualify from the group.
It’s been pretty one-sided where opposition fans are concerned. That loathing that the likes of Sunderland, Manchester United, Liverpool and others have has been well and truly fed and their fans are everywhere with their crying laughing emojis, salivating at the prospect of our impending Euro-downfall. Strange really, but there you go.
But should we be going along with the ‘Group of Death’ narrative and fearing our Champions League campaign? Or should we just be lapping it up?
I’ll be honest, when I watched the draw, I was reduced to a kind of well rehearsed sigh when we were placed in Group F alongside AC Milan, PSG and Borussia Dortmund. It made me laugh because it was so predictable. In a way, we all kind of knew that we’d end up in this sort of group.
Group F is undoubtedly a tough one. But is it tough in terms of being a group we’ll struggle to get a point out of? Or is it just a challenge? We’re in against three European giants, that’s for sure. Two of our group are previous Champions League winners, Dortmund with one and AC with 3 as well as 4 European Cups. All have made it to a semi final in the last 4 years. And AC Milan have had 13 Champions League campaigns since ’02/03, having gone past the group stages in all but one of those. Meanwhile, PSG have made it to at least the last 16 every year since the ’12/13 season and were runners up in the 2019/20 season.
Then you can add in just some of the names that our lads will come up against. Reus, Adeyemi, Sule and Schlotterbeck at Dortmund, Leao, Musah and Giroud at Milan and then just the likes of Donnarumma, Hakimi, Muani and Mbappe at PSG! But don’t forget players like Botman, Bruno, Joelinton, Tonali, Isak and Wilson who’ll all be desperate to pit themselves against such illustrious opposition.
There can be no doubt that we’re in illustrious company! It would be nice to put our record over the last 10 or so years up in contrast, but it makes the stats above even scarier reading!
However, maybe we should look to Eddie Howe in all of this. When we were putting several noses out of joint last season Eddie famously said the following; “We’re not here to be popular and to get other teams to like us. We’re here to compete.” What better time to remember that mantra?
We can either fear this campaign or relish it. I mentioned some of our ‘star’ players earlier and it can’t be denied that we’ve got some squad of players! So, even as a naturally pessimistic football fan, I choose to relish our Champions League campaign. It excites me to see Newcastle United mixing it with the best like this and I can’t wait for it to start.
It can be viewed as a bit of a free hit, where everyone else is expecting us to fail and indeed hoping for it as they follow the recent trend of Geordie hate, simultaneously denying rivalry or even interest, while rabidly informing various social media formats of their hatred for this small club. So what better way to get even further up the noses of those often misinformed idiots than going to places like the San Siro and the Parc des Princes and having a right old go.
However, the free hit theory could also be viewed as a bit of an insult to what Eddie Howe and his team have built over the past 2 years. While we might not have started quite as well as we would have liked this year, we still have one hell of a team. And then thinking back to last year, there were so many games where we just battered teams. We mixed it with the best that our league had to offer and finished up with a Cup Final appearance and a Champions League spot. And if we’d converted one or two of those draws into wins, we’d have been top 3! Make no mistake about it, Newcastle United can get out of this group, however ‘deathly’ it might be viewed. It’s no good doubting ourselves!
It’s a well known fact that we’ve waited two decades for some more Champions League action and while there have been some UEFA Cup games in between, life at the very top level has been sorely missed. Even the Intertoto Cup win in 2006 and Scott Parker’s clear delight at lifting the ‘trophy’ couldn’t really satisfy the thirst for success! (That’s sarcasm by the way, for anyone who missed it).
Whether it’s a difficult group or not, this is an opportunity not to be missed for several reasons. For starters, it puts us firmly in the spotlight. A harsh spotlight, but something of an opportunity all the same. Kieran Trippier talks of pressure as a privilege; well we’ve got loads of that privilege coming our way now and it has to be viewed as an opportunity to let the rest of Europe and to some extent the world, know what Newcastle United is all about.
Being in the spotlight opens up much needed revenue streams too. It’s the kind of money that will help us to keep moving forward and you can bet your life that those in charge will be working hard to maximise the potential that’s on offer.
Let’s not forget also that their are players watching too. So, when we approach top European talent in the future we can point to this campaign – and hopefully more – as a reason to join the club. We can show anyone watching the passion of European nights under the lights at St. James’ Park and you’d hope that there can’t be many players who wouldn’t fancy sampling the kind of atmosphere that we’ll create.
And then there’s us, the fans. I still vividly remember watching Andy Griffin conquer Juventus in 2002, Bellamy scoring at the death against Feyenoord, Shola in the Nou Camp and of course Tino. Now, we get to do it all again, heading to some of the finest cities and stadiums in world football. Dortmund with Signal Iduna Park, 81,000 fans and the famed Yellow Wall, the Parc des Princes in Paris and the famous San Siro where we once took over 10,000 fans on a night when we probably should have beaten Inter as well.
So, yes, the Group of Death represents a scary prospect. But if our players aren’t excited by these games, then you’d have to ask why not. I fully expect them to be completely up for the challenges ahead. And if we thought we’d get an easy ride in the biggest club tournament in the world, then we were kidding ourselves.
At times, you’ll be on the edge of your seat, both physically and metaphorically. At others you might be utterly euphoric and there’ll be moments where you might well be watching it through your fingers or chewing your nails down to your elbow. However you watch it and whatever you expect from the Group of Death, let’s just enjoy it!
Howay The Lads!
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