UEFA issue Newcastle United Champions League tease fans will love

Newcastle United's Champions League fate will be decided on Wednesday night as they host AC Milan at St James' Park (8pm kick-off).

The Magpies must beat Milan to have a chance of progressing to the last-16 of the competition while also hoping Paris Saint-Germain drop points at Borussia Dortmund. A draw would be enough to secure a place in the Europa League for Eddie Howe's side but a defeat would see them exit Europe altogether.

Newcastle were drawn into the Champions League 'group of death' for their first time in the competition in over 20 years. They were drawn against seven-time winners AC Milan, one-time winner Dortmund and arguably one of the strongest teams in the competition in PSG.

Howe's side were beaten home and away to Dortmund but have managed to take four points from PSG and hold Milan to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro, leaving it all to play for heading into the final matchday. Dortmund have already secured progress to the last-16 while PSG, Newcastle and Milan fight for the second qualification slot.

PSG can still top the group with a win over Dortmund. A draw at the Signal Iduna Park would allow Newcastle to sneak into second place with a win over Milan. For the Serie A side to progress, PSG have to lose at Dortmund and Milan have to beat Newcastle.

Wednesday night looks set to be some box office Champions League group stage action with many different permutations to consider. And the Champions League official Twitter account teased the return of group stage action this week.

The account tweeted: "Matchday 6 [popcorn emoji]." Along with a picture of Craig Bellamy celebrating his dramatic winner for Newcastle at Feyenoord back in 2002.

The picture will spark memories of one of Newcastle's most dramatic European nights, which was set up similarly to this week's final group stage match.

Newcastle went into the Feyenoord match, third in the group facing fourth while second place Dynamo Kyiv faced already-qualified Juventus. The Magpies needed a win and Kyiv to drop points against Juventus to guarantee progression.

But Feyenoord could also still qualify with a win over Newcastle provided Juventus beat Kyiv. Sir Bobby Robson's Newcastle side found themselves 2-0 ahead in Rotterdam and on course to progress to the second group stage with goals from Craig Bellamy and Hugo Viana.

But a quickfire double from Mariano Bombarda and Anthony Lurling saw Feyenoord pull it back to 2-2 with 20 minutes to play. At 2-2, Newcastle would be heading out of the competition along with Feyenoord - but if one side found a winner, they would progress to the next round.

And in stoppage time, Bellamy popped up again to make it 3-2 to Newcastle and secure a dramatic victory that saw the club progress against the odds. In getting out of the group, The Magpies became the first side in Champions League history to advance to the next round despite losing each of their first three group stage matches.

Italian side Atalanta are the only other side to achieve the feat to date, doing so in the 2019-20 season.