‘I don’t think’ - Newcastle United CEO aims cheeky dig at Sunderland after Champions League draw

The Champions League group stage draw took place on Thursday, August 31 in Monaco where it was revealed Newcastle United have been drawn into Group F and would face Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan.

Newcastle are back in the Champions League for the first time in over 20 years and return to what has already been dubbed the ‘group of death’. The fixtures will be confirmed in due course with the first fixture taking place September 20.

The group stage will see Newcastle return to the San Siro Stadium in Milan for the first time since they were last in the Champions League during the 2002-03 season where they faced Inter Milan.

Reacting to the group stage draw, Newcastle CEO Eales said: “You think of AC Milan, I know in 2003 we had almost 10,000 Geordies over there in the wonderful city of Milan and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mackem in Milan either!

“Paris Saint-Germain football royalty. Borussia Dortmund as well is a great football club, the yellow wall is amazing. Both fanbases will appreciate each other because the noise at St James’ Park for the first night is going to be something really special.

“We’re really excited. 20 years is a long time without Champions League. We had a great season last season and we’re not just here to make up the numbers, we want to be competing on all fronts. We’ve got six big games ahead of us in the group stage but we’ve got a great coach in Eddie Howe and great players.

“We’re really going to give it our all. We want our fans to dream and we’ve got a group they can get excited about. We feel we’ve got the players and coaching staff and the set-up to compete with all the teams. It’s going to be tough, we understand that, but we’re going to give it our best.”