Sandro Tonali handed warning ahead of Newcastle United Champions League opener v AC Milan

The Milan and England defender admitted he won’t be ‘friends’ with Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali until after the San Siro meeting.

Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan over the summer for an Italian record £52million.

“After the game, we can start being friends again,” Tomori said via Mail Online ahead of the match. “During the game, though, we are not friends.”

Tomori missed Milan’s 5-1 derby humiliation by Inter Milan over the the weekend and will be hoping to help his side bounce back against The Magpies.

“I was disappointed not to have been able to help my team-mates on the pitch,” the 25-year-old added. “Watching the match on TV is tough, you can’t help the team.

“Tomorrow I’ll be on the pitch, I hope. We’ll try to win and start the group well.”

AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli is also well aware of the threat Eddie Howe’s side pose following their 1-0 win over Brentford over the weekend.

“[Newcastle] seem like a classic English team to me with physicality, pressure and intensity,” he said. “They are very tall and dangerous on the dead ball, without neglecting their quality.”

The match will be The Magpies’ first back in the Champions League since 2003. They have been drawn alongside Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain as well as AC Milan in Group F, which has been dubbed ‘the group of death’.